About Martin Juza
Martin is a Magic player from the Czech Republic who has a number of high-profile finishes under his belt:
- Level 8 Pro Players Club member
- 137 Lifetime Pro Points
- Top 8 Pro Tour Austin 2009
- Top 8 Pro Tour Berlin 2008
- Top 8 Grand Prix Tampa 2009
- Top 8 Grand Prix Bangkok 2009
- Top 8 Grand Prix Brighton 2009
I wanted to
write a theoretical article about how to get better at Magic, but considering a
new Extended season has just started with multiple Magic Online and IRL PTQs
taking place almost every day, I think it will be better to talk about Extended.
I really don’t like it when people write articles where they just copy-paste 5 decklists
and add 5 lines to each of them saying this is the metagame, choose something
yourself, therefore I will just present 2 decks I would play if I were to play
a PTQ tomorrow.
Affinity
The first
one is a deck that almost builds itself and there isn’t really a lot of space
for creativity.
(Note: This
article, including the Affinity decklist, was written before the Affinity deck
won a PTQ on MTGO.)
This deck forms part of my feature article:
A new Extended season has just started, with multiple Magic Online and IRL PTQs
taking place almost every day. Level 8 mage Martin Juza takes a look at the format and presents 2 interesting decks he would play if he were to play
a PTQ tomorrow!
| Colors |
|---|
| Artifact | 31 |
|---|
| Blue | 8 |
|---|
| Hybrid | 2 |
|---|
| Land | 19 |
|---|
| Converted Mana Cost |
|---|
| 0 | 4 |
|---|
| 1 | 11 |
|---|
| 2 | 10 |
|---|
| 3 | 4 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 |
|---|
| 5 | 4 |
|---|
| 7 | 4 |
|---|
| Type |
|---|
| Artifact | 14 |
|---|
| Artifact Creature | 23 |
|---|
| Basic Land | 1 |
|---|
| Land | 18 |
|---|
| Sorcery | 4 |
|---|
Sideboard
This is a
very general sideboard and you should make your own according to the metagame
you are expecting. If you think there is going to be a lot of Hypergenesis,
then change some of the lands and put Ethersworn Canonist in the sideboard. If
you are afraid of combo decks, you can try Meddling Mage, although I really don’t
like playing many colored cards in this deck. If you think there is going to be
a lot of Kibler Zoo, then I suggest moving some Shrapnel Blasts to the main,
because Baneslayer Angel is very hard to get through, and so on.
Why
Affinity?
Well, I don’t
think there was ever a better time to play it. No one is playing cards like Ancient Grudge (Instead Zoo now has cards like Oblivion Ring to be able to
remove a Baneslayer Angel), Kataki, War’s Wage, Sower of Temptation, Hurkyl’s
Recall, … even something like Spell Snare used to be a 4-of but people are now playing
to 2 or 3. So if you want something the metagame isn’t ready for, I suggest
colorless robots!
Card
Choices
It’s a
pretty good answer to Dark Depths and a really good card against Zoo. It even
helps against the very annoying Baneslayer Angel, you can just sacrifice the
blocked/blocking creature before damage and they will gain no life. I’m never
unhappy about drawing it, although I never want to draw two.
The answer for
this one is the presence of Path to Exile in almost every deck. Sometimes you
will get an awkward draw and won’t be able to play a Frogmite on turn 2, but
having a land to fetch against Path to Exile is definitely worth it.
This card
is not meant to deal the final blow, but as a way to get rid of Baneslayer Angel, Sower of Temptation or if you are unfortunate enough, Kataki, War’s Wage.
Cards I don’t
like are:
But I’m not
saying my opinion is 100% correct. Whatever works for you is fine.
The rest of
the cards are fairly obvious – Relic of Progenitus and Tormod’s Crypt are
against Dredge, Pithing Needle against Dark Depths, Thopter Foundry, possibly
something like Martyr of Sands, Thoughtseize against… well you get the idea.
There isn’t
really a set of rules how to sideboard, obviously if you are planning on
bringing in Pithing Needle against Thopter Foundry, you shouldn’t leave yours
in the deck. I usually sideboard out a combination of 1-ofs, the first cards to
take out are Ornithopthers and Arcbound Workers but it really depends on the
version of your opponents deck.
I really
believe this deck is very strong right now and as long as there is no hate you
will have a very easy time. You should also know, that Darksteel Citadel is
currently bugged on MTGO and is as destructible just like the other lands…
Hive Mind
Now let’s
move onto something much more interesting:
This deck forms part of my feature article:
A new Extended season has just started, with multiple Magic Online and IRL PTQs
taking place almost every day. Level 8 mage Martin Juza takes a look at the format and presents 2 interesting decks he would play if he were to play
a PTQ tomorrow!
| Colors |
|---|
| Artifact | 7 |
|---|
| Black | 3 |
|---|
| Blue | 20 |
|---|
| Land | 18 |
|---|
| Red | 12 |
|---|
| Converted Mana Cost |
|---|
| 0 | 18 |
|---|
| 1 | 12 |
|---|
| 2 | 4 |
|---|
| 3 | 4 |
|---|
| 6 | 4 |
|---|
| Type |
|---|
| Artifact | 7 |
|---|
| Basic Land | 4 |
|---|
| Enchantment | 4 |
|---|
| Instant | 19 |
|---|
| Land | 14 |
|---|
| Sorcery | 12 |
|---|
This is the
deck I was set on playing at PT Austin before we discovered that there was
going to be a lot of Dark Depths in the field. That’s probably the biggest
weakness of this deck - it has a close to unwinnable matchup against Dark Depths, but the truth is, our Dark Depths deck ran Vendillion Cliques and Duress
maindeck so maybe it isn’t even that bad against the current lists. It is very
similar to Mind’s Desire from last season; if you change just a couple of cards
you get pretty much the same deck. It goldfishes around turn 4 plus you have Remands to slow your opponent down and Pacts for protection against counterspells and creatures like Gaddock Teeg.
The good
thing about this deck is that there isn’t really a way to hate it. Once you
play the Hive Mind, you still have priority which means it will always trigger
if you play a Pact. Destroying the Hive Mind with Qasali Pridemage isn’t good
enough, you can gain 50 life with Martyr of Sands or Thopter Foundry,
barricade yourself behind Baneslayer Angels or Mana Leaks and Spell Snares
(which are pretty much useless against you), you will always lose anyway.
It’s a
little hard to play though, so I wouldn’t recommend playing it without some
practice games first. Especially against control decks, where you have to wait
for the right moment, keep charging your storage lands and assemble the perfect
hand. Also sometimes your opponent may just be able to pay for the pact so make
sure you keep that in mind.
Mitamura suggested
switching Lotus Bloom for Simian Spirit Guide, but the metagame was expected to
be much faster back then. I would stick with Lotus Bloom for now.
Good way to
get your pacts, especially when it really matters. In some matchups, you will
need to get rid of Meddling Mage, Gaddock Teeg or Ethersworn Canonist,
sometimes you will need more blue pacts to protect the combo. In the end I didn’t
feel like I needed it, but there is definitely space for one or two, although
it would require raising the land count by at least 1.
We spent an
entire day after we first played with the deck thinking, that Chalice of the Void owns us,
because the pacts get countered and we have no way to remove it. Then we
realized that Hive Mind actually puts a copy of the spell on the stack, which
means that your pact will in fact get countered, but theirs will still resolve,
causing them to lose anyway. This is even better because some people will just
not realize it (like we did) and bring in Chalices against you anyway, thinking
they are safe after they play it.
1UU
transmute for Hive Mind and if you already have it you can at least imprint it
to a Chrome Mox. My opinion is that 4 Ponder and 4 Serum Vision is enough
though.
Pretty much
your only chance against Dark Depths, also your average casting cost is below
1.
For some
time we even had Magma Jet in the maindeck over Remands. It accomplishes the
same - buys you time and gets you closer to the part you are missing. In the
end Remand won because we expected a lot of Hypergenesis.
Sideboarding
Generally
you sideboard out Lotus Blooms on the draw in fast matchups or if you expect
them to have artifact hate (that includes Qasali Pridemage or even Engineered Explosives most of the time), Dark Confidants in matchups which are not about
speed, Magma Jets (and sometimes even Echoing Truth depending on how much hate
they have) against Gaddock Teeg/ Meddling Mage / Ethersworn Canonist, an extra Slaughter Pact against creature decks (sometimes you can just Pact a Tarmogoyf
and pay if they have a slower draw), Vendilion Clique versus Control/Combo and Ravenous Trap versus Dredge.
If you are
still not convinced by either deck, I suggest playing the updated version of
the aggro Zoo deck I posted in my Worlds report:
Level 8 mage Martin Juza brings you part 2 of an epic Worlds report, including his draft experience, various Extended decklists and a comment on the Emeria deck in Standard!
This decklist forms part of my latest feature article:
Level 8 mage Martin Juza brings you part 2 of an epic Worlds report, including his draft experience, various Extended decklists and a comment on the Emeria deck in Standard!
| Colors |
|---|
| Gold | 11 |
|---|
| Green | 8 |
|---|
| Land | 21 |
|---|
| Red | 12 |
|---|
| White | 8 |
|---|
| Converted Mana Cost |
|---|
| 1 | 20 |
|---|
| 2 | 19 |
|---|
| Type |
|---|
| Basic Land | 1 |
|---|
| Creature | 23 |
|---|
| Instant | 12 |
|---|
| Land | 20 |
|---|
| Sorcery | 4 |
|---|
The good
thing about that deck is, that you just don’t care about what your opponent is playing;
your goal is a turn 4 kill. That’s the problem with decks with answers, sometimes
you are just stuck with Spell Snares, Path to Exiles and Engineered Explosives
etc against a completely different deck. Don’t get me wrong, I love control
decks, but having to decide whether you should keep 4 lands, Essence Scatter, Path to Exile and Day of Judgment is sometimes very tough. So if you don’t like
having to put your opponent on a deck from time to time or if you are just an
aggro player in general, I think Zoo is the deck for you.
If you have
questions, need help with sideboarding or anything else, just let me know in
the comments or the Blackborder forums and I’ll be happy to help you.
Zendikar Draft
As a final side note, this is what I've been drafting
lately. Triple Zendikar season is coming to an end and I'm not doing a lot of
drafts anyway, so I've been trying to get a little creative and have some fun.
Here is how most of my latest decks looked like:
Good luck in
the PTQs and see you soon.
MJ
Blue
Black
Red
Green
White
Email this page
I was really wondering about how you would have an answer for Chalice with not counters, but I'm not sure I understand how it still works. Does it not counter their copy but of the fact that is a "copy" and they didn't actually play it?
Would you mind elaborating on the rule for me just so I can back it up if I encounter the situation? Other than that I'm really tempted to throw this together and blow some mind at the next FNM. I'll at least definitely be play testing it on MWS. That and it'll give me something to do with the mess of Hive Mind sitting in my junk rares box. :D
The copy from Hive Mind is just put on the stack (it's not cast), which means Chalice of the Void will only counter the original pact but not the copy (because it's put on the stack).
Oh ok now I see how that works. I was gonna' ask about Slaughter Pact if I didn't have anything on the board for them to target would it fizzle but since it's on the stack I get it now.
Thanks! (I just ordered the Pacts for this deck. :D)
You can only cast your Slaughter Pact if there is a legal target available. Which means your opponent has to copy the pact (assuming there is a Hive Mind on the board) and he then may choose new targets for the pact, but since there is only the original target available (because you said you don't have anything else for them to target) he can't choose another target.
I hope that answers your question.
So, just to clarify. My opponent has only a Wild Nacatl on the board. I cast my Slaughter Pact with Hive Mind in play. His copy would also have to target the Wild Nacatl as well correct (just for argument's sake anyhow)?
I think I've about got this figured out so I don't embarrass myself. Now I'll just have to print this out and carry it out around the first couple of weeks I play the deck. LoL
Maybe I read this wrong
Thopter Foundry
It’s a pretty good answer to Dark Depths and a really good card against Zoo. It even helps against the very annoying Baneslayer Angel, you can just sacrifice the blocked/blocking creature before damage and they will gain no life. I’m never unhappy about drawing it, although I never want to draw two.
It sounds like you can block and sack every turn. You can only do this with a NONTOKEN artifact. So it really only happens with a Ornithopter on the battlefield.
Sorry wasn't logged in. The anonymous is me.
xchadrickx - Q1 - chalice only counters the spell if it is being played, hive mind (as well as other cards like isochron scepter) goes around that by "putting a copy of the spell on the stack". you dont actually play it, you just place a copy on the stack. Q2 - wild nacatl is in play as the only creature, you have a hive mind and you play slaughter pact, HM triggers and your opp. gets his copy, he has to target his nacatl, his pact resolves and he has to pay next turn. now your pact would like to resolve but its target is gone and its countered on resolution (fizzles), which means YOU DONT have to pay even if your opponent managed to pay for his. if there was another creature in play, he can just choose any other legal target. interested things start happening when there is a hive mind in play and someone tries to play countermagic, cause then the other guy gets a copy of it too, making it pretty much useless.
mtgxman - you got it right, you can only block baneslayer with ornithopther and nexus, but attacking with baneslayer isnt as bad as keeping it on defense, you usually have a much bigger guy because of cranial plating which you want to connect with. so as an example you attack, sac the blocked guy, instantly re-equip the plating to any other guy to get in for more and he gets no life.
also im pretty sure everyone would figure it out, but sometimes when you have HM and only a blue pact, you can just play a spell (like chrome mox) and counter it yourself with the pact, making them get a copy, which has to target either the mox or your pact (or anything else if it is on the stack, except for the actual copy - a spell itself is not a legal target on the stack) meaning it resolve, causing them to lose.
i hope it makes sense :)
Martin... given the nature of the online meta and its heavy slant towards red and zoo could you see playing finks main over the gaddock teegs? I find them useful in far more matchups than I do teeg. Also, why not deathmark over oblivion ring? Interested to hear your comments.
i like oblivion ring much more because it removes umezawas jitte and against a deck like tezzeret you want to sideboard out your path to exiles but still want to be able to remove baneslayer angel, while you still get a card that answers thopther foundry, sower of temptation, chalice of the void or something like threads of disloyality. also the mirror matchup where you primarily want the deathmark is not about speed, so paying 3 instead of 1 is fine considering you have an extra answer to jitte (and a better answer to finks).
teeg/finks - if you expect your metagame to be that way, then switch it. i would use this list for a tournament where im not sure how the metagame will look like. i still like gaddock teeg though, burn is a pretty bad matchup anyway and there is currently a lot of scapeshift, explosives, chalices, cryptics, wrath of gods, beseech the queens...
Thanks for clearing that up. I always like to be able to explain a ruling exactly because in local play there could always be a case when I'd have to really explain myself. This deck was pretty much the discussion of every break at work tonight trying to come up with what would really kill it since as you stated counter magic get to be pretty redundant once the HM is in play.
The only answer we can up with came from my buddy Gill who always has ideas for super jank cards and his answer to this deck was Magosi, the Waterveil. Now this obviously is EXTREMELY hypothetical but if someone had it in play they could tap it to put an Eon counter on it, wouldn't that would let them dodge the bullet of paying all that mana and leave you having to pay yours correct? lol
It's ridiculous but as far as I can imagine it shoud work. :P
A question to the Hive Mind Deck:
Whats your opinion on Ad Nauseam / Gigadrows as Sideboard cards to make the control Mu better?
Those two cards just came in my mind as I through the article.
@Martin: Not really relevant to the article, but Isochron allows you to "play" a copy without paying the mana cost. It doesn't put it directly on the stack like HM or twincast. This is why you can kick an imprinted Orim's Chant for example.
Good Article, I love the zoo list!
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