THE BOSS NAYA! (Breakout Deck from PT San Diego

PT San Diego, the first major T2 tournament since Worldwake was released! A Certain Deck from the Tourney caught my eye, the reason for that is LSV, one of the best names in the game piloted the deck Boss Naya to a 10-0 standard performance during the Swiss rounds. On top of that he 6-0ed the draft portion to finish 16-0 in the Swiss rounds. This has never been done before in Pt history so congrats to LSV on breaking a world record! Now the deck LSV played must have been good right? RIGHT! The deck is insane and made me instantly build it when I saw the deck! Not only did LSV Pilot it to great success the decks creator, Tom Ross and all the other channel fireball guys played the deck to great success. Here is their masterpiece:

Boss Naya
Luis Scott-Vargas
2010 PT San Diego
Type II

Main Deck:
2 Ajani Vengeant
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Ranger of Eos
1 Scute Mob
2 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Wild Nacatl

1 Basilisk Collar
1 Behemoth Sledge
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Path to Exile

4 Arid Mesa
5 Forest
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Sejiri Steppe
2 Stirring Wildwood
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard:
2 Baneslayer Angel
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Behemoth Sledge
4 Cunning Sparkmage
2 Dauntless Escort
1 Goblin Guide
2 Manabarbs
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Stoneforge Mystic



What can I say, it is simply amazing! I highly recommend picking up this deck and giving it a try. If you are missing any of the cards www.mtgfanatic.com will certainly provide you with missing pieces, they have the best prices!



Phazr

 

My Extended Deck for PTQ London Ontario.

Hello, today I will be talking briefly about my Extended weapon of choice. Expect a tournament report in the near future but as of now I will Quickly run yo through the deck. Without further ado, here is my list:

The Beast
phazr
Extended

Main Deck:
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Tezzeret the Seeker

1 Chalice of the Void
2 Chrome Mox
2 Cryptic Command
1 Day of Judgment
3 Engineered Explosives
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Life from the Loam
4 Mana Leak
1 Muddle the Mixture
3 Path to Exile
1 Sword of the Meek
4 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Wrath of God

1 Academy Ruins
2 Breeding Pool
2 Celestial Colonnade
1 Forest
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Stirring Wildwood
1 Temple Garden
3 Tolaria West

Sideboard
3 Baneslayer Angel
2 Bant Charm
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Echoing Truth
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Into the Roil
1 Loxodon Hierarch
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Vendilion Clique




Alright, so the main win condition for the deck is to assemble the Thopter Foundry, Sword of The Meek Combo and winning that way. However, Thing don't always go the way they are planned, and that is where win condition number 2, Tarmogoyf, comes into play. If your opponent manages to disrupt your combo game one you will still have enough power to grind it out with Goyf and man lands (Celestial Colonnade and Stirring Wildwood). Even if that fails I have won countless games with Jace, the Mind Sculptor simply by exiling their library! Jace's fateseel one ability is so powerful (maybe even more so than brainstorm!). I have played a number of games against Zoo where he was in top deck mode and wasn't doing anything to exciting. But when I peel jace and slap him to play against hellbent opponent things are not looking good for him/her. If you look at the top card of their library and say "you're good" or "I'm going to keep that one on top" Chances are when you untap again things won't be looking any better for them. You control what they draw until you just go Ultimate and exile their deck. I have done just that more than 3 times against both Zoo and Dark Thopter! 3 Gifts Ungiven are here to search out the combo or just stuff you need. For example the gifts pile for the combo will always look like this: Academy Ruins, Life from the Loam, Thopter Foundry, Sword of The Meek. This will insure you that you will at one point get the combo running. Also you can put your opponent in an "Explosive Lock". This works very well against Zoo and other creature strategies. The lock is simply Engineered Explosives, Academy Ruins and at least 5 other lands. What you do is cast explosives; your opponent plays a guy sac the explosives then use ruins ability to bring the explosives back on top. You essentially draw explosives every turn and answer to everything your opponent plays! But be careful since an explosive for 2 will destroy your combo pieces. The rest of the deck is just removal and disruption. This deck is extremely powerful and capable of insane locks and combos. Although it is extremely hard to pilot, with enough play testing it can very well be the most powerful deck in the extended format! Stay tuned for a Tournament report, Side board tips and more! Remember, check out www.mtgfanatic.com and keep playing magic!

Phazr

150 Words on Amulet of Vigor

Amulet of Vigor

WOW! Isn't this card just insane? Yes, yes it is! With this Amulet on the battlefield, your Shards of Alara Tri-lands aren't slow. You don't have to pay two life to play your Ravnica Shock Land. Imagine, Turn one, Amulet of Vigor, turn 2, Misty Rainforest. Sacrifice it then search for a Breeding pool and cast a Farseek and search for a Temple Garden then play a Noble Hierarch and pass the turn. You know effectively have 5 mana on turn 3. Say your opponent Path to Exile's your Baneslayer Angel. You search for a basic land and it comes into play... UNTAPPED! This card also makes 5 colour decks work faster in type 2 now. Imagine the power of valakut! Where does this card really shine? In any deck! I highly recommend picking up 4 of this artefact as it won't stay at $3.99 very long.

 

 

TRUST ME! THIS IS REDONK!




That's all for now, stay tuned for more 150 word articles on Worldwake Cards.

Phazr.

Building A Better Treshold

Threshold is a control deck in Legacy that only plays under three casting cost spells and wins with Tarmogoyf or Nimble Mongoose. It runs Very effective burn spells and draw spells like Brainstorm and Lightning Bolt. The deck wants to sink as many cards as it can to the graveyard then beat down with a latterly untouchable Nimble Mongoose. Force of Will and other counter spells are here to keep your opponent's spells off the bored. Let's take a look at the shell of the deck by looking at various builds from different 5K Tournaments.




First we have a deck from the Star City Games Dallas 5K that happened just a few weeks ago.



Threshold
Simon Sung
2010 Star City $5k Legacy Open - Dallas
Legacy

Main Deck:
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf

4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Fire // Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Spell Snare
4 Stifle

1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
2 Krosan Grip
2 Pithing Needle
2 Price of Progress
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Submerge
3 Tormod's Crypt


As you can see Simon included Grim Lavamancer which is a neat card for taking down zoo decks as it clips away at most of their creatures. Plus, it isn't hard to keep creatures in your graveyard either. Next we have a different 75 from the Los Angeles 5k.



Threshold
Sam Blau
2010 Star City $5k Legacy Open - Los Angeles
Legacy

Main Deck:
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Vendilion Clique

4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Fire // Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Spell Snare
4 Stifle

3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
4 ?
2 Krosan Grip
2 Mind Harness
4 Submerge
3 Tormod's Crypt

Sam played Vendilion Clique in place of Grim Lavamancer. Although Clique is good I still like Lavamancer better. The decks are both almost exact except for the two card difference in each list.



Now my problem is that I do not own any duals, or Wasteland. So I am resorted to the Ravnica Shock lands.

4c

Without further ado here is my list.




Threshold
phazr
Legacy

Main Deck:
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf

4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Fire // Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
3 Spell Snare
4 Stifle

4 Breeding Pool
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Flooded Grove
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents

Sideboard:
3 Firespout
2 Krosan Grip
1 Pithing Needle
4 Pyroblast
2 Submerge
3 Tormod's Crypt


I decided to play a full set of Lavamancers because they just seem so good. I hope I can Manage to find at least a few duals before the tournament though.



This is what I am going to play in the tournament, Be ready for a report after it!


Check out www.mtgfanatic.com !

Stay Tuned,
Phazr.

Choosing A Legacy Deck

Oh Legacy, What a great format to turn to when standard is stale and you missed your extended PTQ. There is a big legacy tournament being held at my local hobby in the up coming weeks. So today I am going to discuss the decks I am choosing from.

Basically I have narrowed my choices to Threshold or CounterTop Progenitus. Here is the situation, I don't own any duals. so the zoo and burn match ups get that much harder. I am forced to use shocks instead.


Let's take a look at the Threshold and the CounterTop deck.


This is the Threshold deck that finished top eight in Dallas at the Star City Games 5k.


Threshold
Simon Sung
2010 Star City $5k Legacy Open - Dallas
Legacy

Main Deck:
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf

4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Fire // Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Ponder
4 Spell Snare
4 Stifle

1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Tropical Island
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
2 Krosan Grip
2 Pithing Needle
2 Price of Progress
1 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
3 Submerge
3 Tormod's Crypt

compared to...


Counter Top
Matt Nass
2010 Star City $5k Legacy Open - Los Angeles
Legacy

Main Deck:
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Progenitus
2 Rhox War Monk
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Wall of Blossoms

4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
3 Natural Order
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Dryad Arbor
2 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Savannah
4 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
4 Windswept Heath

Sideboard:
3 Engineered Explosives
1 Predict
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Spell Pierce
1 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Vendilion Clique



Threshold is more a traditional control deck that finishes games off with goyf whereas CounterTop just searches up Progenitus with natural order and wins. They are both very good and I like the Grim Lavamancers in the treshold deck. I guess only time will tell will tell... Be ready for a tournament report after the tournament.



I think I am going to be sleeving up Countertop but it is much harder to play.


Check out www.mtgfanatic.com!

Thanks for reading,
Phazr

Making The Best Deck... BETTER!

Hello!

Today, I am talking about Jund. So if you are a Jund hater, be prepared to be hated back! The reason Jund has stayed on top for so long is because no one really knew how to beat it. But all that has changed recently, when Spreading Seas was put into every deck that plays blue Jund has suddenly not been so good. Lets think of some ways that we can tune Jund to beat Seas.

Most decks simply use seas to slow down Jund, this makes Jund decks that play Rampart Growth may be better. Although growth is good... Harrow is just way better. They "Spread" your Savage Land? Just sac it to harrow and grab two more lands. They play a kicked Goblin Ruinblaster? Just sac the land they targeted and go search for two more basics! Say you have savage Lands, Mountain, Swamp out with Harrow in hand, your opponent has Crumbling Necropolis, Mountain, Island, Swamp out and is casting a Goblin Ruinblaster with kicker in response to the Ruinblaster you cast harrow and sac your Savage Lands, now you have no non basics and your opponent has to destroy one of his own lands! Congratulations! Jund has yet another 2 for 1!


Now, What would the correct jund list be? Probably Siege Gang Commanders and Broodmate Dragons backed up by Blightning, Bloddbraid Elf, and Thrinax. With a removal sweet of Bit-Blast, Terminate, Lightning Bolt and Maelstrom Pulse.

A Jund list could look something like this:

3 Broodmate Dragon
4 Seige-Gang Commander
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Sprouting Thrinax

3 Harrow
2 Rampart Growth
4 Blightning
3 Bit-Blast
2 Terminate
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Lightning bolt

4 Savage Lands
4 Rootbound Craig
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 verdant catacombs
3 swamp
3 mountain
3 forest

Side Board

2 Terminate
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Mind Rot
2 jund charm
4 Goblin Ruinblaster


This deck is by no means tuned to perfection. But it is something to mess around with. Make it on Magic Workstation or MODO and at least try it.

Check out www.mtgfanatic.com It is a great Website!


Until next time...

Phazr

A TRIP TO THE BIG ZOO!

Hello! Today I will be talking about my extended deck of choice, Big Zoo. The deck is very good versus the main part of the metagame, it beats: Zoo, Rubin Zoo, Tezzeret, Mono Red and Scapeshift. It has a fair match against Dredge and the other decks. You can find the list in a very good format here. Other wise, here is the deck.

BIG ZOO

4 Baneslayer Angel
4 tarmogoyf
4 knight of the reliquary
4 wild nactl
4 noble hiearch

4 bant charm
4 path to exile
4 lightning bolt
3 lightning helix

2 umezawa's jitte

4 misty rainforest
4 arid mesa
4 scalding tarn
2 stomping ground
2 temple garden
1 sacred foundry
1 steam vents
1 hallowed fountain
1 treetop village
1 forest
1 plains
1 island

sideboard
4 meddling mage
3 gaddock teeg
3 negate
4 tormods crypt
1 ghost quarter


Again, check out the deck here for better format and card rulings. So, the first thing you may notice is the blue splash for Bant Charm, meddling mage and negate. Truth is, Bantcharm wrecks so many decks and has so many options. It can kill a guy, It can protect baneslayer, it can shut down Tezzeret. It fairs quite well against Affinity too! The deck packs so much removal that it is hard for zoo to keep creatures on the board. Besides your dudes are bigger most of the time. Against red you have Bant Charm for blood moon, removal for there guys Jitte and baneslayer for life gain. Tezzeret is a hard game one since you have so many dead cards but when you take out bolts and helixs for mages and teegs the table turns heavily in your favour! you also get negate post board too! Dark depths is actually quite a hard match up, I would try putting in some more ghost quarters, maybe one main deck? Against Scapeshift again game one is hard but teegs, mages and negates should get you there! For Rubin Zoo? Well you have way more removal, as for side boarding... I would maybe bring in negates for protection. Against zoo you want to have the last creature and Jitte is quite good versus them too! Here is a quick sideboard plan for each match up... I'm not going to go to in depth as of now but hopefully this will help you out.


TEZZERET

IN: 4 Meddling Mage, 3 Gaddock Teeg, 3 Negate
Out: 4 Lightning bolt, 3 lightning helix, 3 path to exile

This really turns the match up in your favour... remember... they will likely have baneslayer so hold a bant charm for it is quite good (also the reason one path stays in) Beat them down with treetop village if you have the chance.

Scapeshift
IN: 4 Meddling Mage, 3 Gaddock Teeg, 3 Negate
Out: same as Tezzeret.

this just destroys scapeshift, you should have more answers to there combo then they to to your answers.

RUBIN ZOO

IN: 2 negate
Out: I really don't know... this match up is almost preboarded but having some protection from removal is always nice.

ZOO

no board... you should win easily.

Dark Depths

same as Tezzeret and +1 ghost quarter -1 Jitte

DREDGE

-4 bant charm - 4 path to exile - 3 helix

+4 tormod`s crypt +3 TEEG +4 Mage

hate them out!

RED

Keep the same!





This deck is so good against everything and the sideboard is amazing! It just destroys most decks!

Check out http://www.mtgfanatic.com/!

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for the next post in which i will be talking about extended in general!

Phazr.