When the red zone just isn't enough...

Welcome back to the EDH in Ottawa blog! This week’s blog is a bit of a deck clinic. I'd been trying to find a deck that could do well in all levels of the Gauntlet event but that might also fare well in the 1 v 1 events. I knew I wanted something that would live and die in the red zone but wanted to be able to somewhat grief my opponents as well. Decisions decisions...

I reached out to Robert McEachern, whose Balthor deck has been doing quite nicely of late since it has had a Morality Shift, and asked for a second opinion on the decklist below:

Commander: Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (1)

Lands (35):

30 Plains
Cavern of Souls
Eiganjo Castle
Emeria, the Sky Ruins
Mistveil Plains
Strip Mine

 Creatures (40):

Angel of Jubilation
Baneslayer Angel
Banisher Priest
Celestial Crusader
Champion of theParish
Deftblade Elite
Devoted Caretaker
Duskrider Falcon
Elite Inquisitor
Emancipation Angel
Flickerwisp
Freewind Falcon
Gideon's Lawkeeper
Glowrider
Hero of Bladehold
Hokori, Dust Drinker
Icatian Javelineers
Kataki, War's Wage
Knight of Meadowgrain
Knight of the WhiteOrchid
Kor Skyfisher
Leonin Arbiter
Leonin Relic-Warder
Leonin Skyhunter
Mirran Cursader
Mother of Runes
Paladin en-Vec
Phyrexian Revoker
Pianna, Nomad Captain
Planar Guide
Precinct Captain
Preeminent Captain
Samurai of the PaleCurtain
Serra Ascendant
Serra Avenger
Soltari Champion
Soltari Monk
Soltari Priest
War Falcon
War Priest of Thune

 Artifacts (7):

Lightning Greaves
Relic of Progenitus
Scroll Rack
Skullclamp
Sol Ring
Thorn of Amethyst
Winter Orb

 Sorceries (2):

Armageddon
Revoke Existence

 Instants (7):

Army of Allah
Banishing Stroke
Condemn
Last Breath
Path to Exile
Renounce the Guilds
Swords to Plowshares

Enchantments (8):

Crusade
Honor of the Pure
Jihad
Journey to Nowhere
Land Tax
Nevermore
Oblivion Ring
Path of Bravery

Thalia is a 2/1 First Striking Thorn of Amethyst. The original plan was to throw a bunch of dudes in there, some Crusade effects and just go to town on my opponents' lifetotals.

A little research on the topic (Thanks Tyler Woyiwada!) informed me that there are some nice Stax/Prison variants on Thalia, which seem really nice but I’m also trying to not explode in the first round of the Gauntlet, so I can’t just start dropping Tangle Wire or Smokestack with impunity. Creature count increased to 40 or so, consisting of a variety of "Hate Bears" (2/2 for 1W or WW with game-altering abiltiies like preventing search, stopping abilities outside your turn or making your opponents pay more for non-creature spells) and evasive creatures, whether through protection from colours (Mirran Crusader, Paladin en-Vec) or just punching through regular defenses, such as the Soltari contingent.

I've been asked why Thalia over Rune-Tail and quite simply Thalia's "tax", compounded with Thorn of Amethyst and even Glowrider, dramatically slows things down in a format that just wants to tap out. When Sol Ring costs 2, Wrath of God costs 5 and the Swords cost 4 things start getting a little tight around the collar. If you manage to sneak through an Armageddon the chokehold could well be complete. That said, I wasn't entirely sure of the above build (which had a lot of pet cards like Army of Allah and the "prot-chickens" Duskrider and Freewind Falcon), so I asked Robert about this and he dropped a line through the magic of Facebook...

"Banisher Priest is pretty much strictly worse than Fiend Hunter. I feel you should run more equipment, and run less creatures that are barely helpful. The fact that you have no Glorious Anthem or Marshall's Anthem is puzzling, even with the Thalia tax. I feel you should have at least a couple of boardwipes. Army of Allah is pretty garbagey, that should come out for Glorious Anthem."

Also, "Dude...WRATH. OF. GOD."

Can't argue with removing pet cards. Out went Army of Allah and in came Glorious Anthem.The falcons got replaced with an Austere Command (which proved game-altering at today's Gauntlet) and a Wrath of God, which again was excellent in clearing a clogged boardstate in the free for all section of the Gauntlet. Thalia's tax effect was backbreaking throughout the day, the stack was a clear as a bright summer day lying around the pool. And yes, Greg Tierney was right about Serra Ascendant and Land Tax. While Land Tax has always been completely off the wall bonkers, I wasn't sold on the Ascendant until I saw it action under my own control. 6/6 Flying Lifelink that becomes a 1/1 if your opponent steals it and they have a low life total? Sign me up! Out came another suboptimal beater for a Crib Swap on Shane Shuster's suggestion (more on Shane later on...) and the deck became an efficient and annoying pressure-generating machine. That is, when you can actually untap your lands which wasn't the case in the free for all, but no plan is perfect!

Before I go I'd like to thank everyone at CBS today for the kind words and great service. Extra special thanks to Kathrine and Vince, the latter of whom was an exceptional 2 v 2 partner. <3 all of you!

And now for the first instalment of...

Overrated or Undderated? by Shane Shuster

This week,

Without any further ado, the podium goes to Shane.

"Hey, before I get into the meat and potatoes (or tofu and potatoes for all the vegetarians out there) I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Shane and I am a collector and player of Magic: the Gathering since the Kamigawa block. Over the past few years, I have been getting into playing EDH and have since been a member of Pierre's Saturday group at Wizard's Tower. I have a bit of a griefer streak in regards to the decks that I have (Memnarch Combo, Homura Political, and Scion of the Ur-Dragon, the latter extremely tuned).

"Force of Will is easily one of the most overrated cards in all of EDH. While it is exceptionally strong in any format allowing it due to its redundancy and alternate casting cost, EDH's singleton nature makes it less so. You have to exile the only copy of that crucial blue card to stop one of your opponent's many bombs, and unless you're playing a degenerate combo deck (don't lie, we all have at some point), the alternate casting cost just isn't worth the price in future, and possibly needed, resources. Now I'd be lying if I said Force was a bad card in EDH; it remains incredibly powerful, especially in combo such as Memnarch and Niv Mizzet, but I don't think it is nearly as powerful as so many other cards are in EDH, especially for its price point."

"On the other hand, Mindbreak Trap is a spectacular, versatile card. First it gets rid of all of those pesky combos (Storm) and annoying generals like Maelstrom Wanderer. Second, it acts as a better-than-counterspell as it exiles uncounterable spells. As an added bonus in prevents Unearth, Flashback or other graveyard strategies through its exile mechanic. Lastly, if a player has cast three or more spells during their turn, it's completely free. That's right, for no cost at all you can exile any number of spells on the stack. Otherwise it's a four mana Dissipate instead of losing a mostly meaningless one life point and an important game piece as Force of Will would. Lastly, price can always be an issue and Force's $100 pricetag compared to the $5 Mindbreak Trap might run you may swing the equation in the latter's favour.

"If you want to contact me, either find me playing Pierre while targting myself with a massive Stroke of Genius while I have a Laboratory Maniac on the field OR email me at shaneshuster@gmail.com."

Until next time,

Shane

EDH events:

Comic Book Shoppe: 2-228 Bank Street 613-226-2319 Sunday, Sunday, Septmber 1st      1 v 1 play , with standard EDH banned list.
Gamebreakers: 6-780 Baseline Road 1-800-279-4115 Thursday, August 29th, Casualish tournament starting around 6 p.m. $5 entry, booster pack prizes. Please register early.

Wizard’s Tower: 3350 Fallowfield Road 613-843-0705 Saturday, August 31st. Casual starting around Noon.