About Yann Massicard
Yann Massicard
Yann is a Level 6 Magic Pro player from France who has a number of high-profile finishes under his belt:
- Winner Grand Prix Seattle 2009
- 51 Lifetime Pro Points
- Level 6 Pro Players Club member
- Top 16 Pro Tour Kyoto 2009
- Top 24 Pro Tour Kuala Lumpur 2008
- Top 16 Grand Prix Strasbourg 2007
Hey everyone!
This month, many of you are going to compete in
regional tournaments to try and qualify for Nationals. As those tournaments are
being held in Standard, you should be familiar with the decklists from PT San
Diego, since you are supposed to playtest against the most successful ones at
least. Besides, GP Kuala Lumpur takes place this weekend, which should help us
understand Standard better. Will Jund and Naya continue to dominate the field?
Is Open the Vaults a serious contender?
Apart from looking at the different decklists, analyzing
the most important matchups can actually be highly relevant to prepare for Regionals.
As I played RDW in San Diego during 10 rounds of Constructed, I should have
enough data to talk about the deck in this particular metagame.
RDW In San Diego
This deck forms part of my feature article:
Yann Massicard talks about his Standard deck
from Pro Tour San Diego and analyzes the most important matchups. Our level 6
pro goes over possible updates and sideboard changes.
| Converted Mana Cost |
|---|
| 1 | 16 |
|---|
| 2 | 12 |
|---|
| 3 | 8 |
|---|
| Type |
|---|
| Basic Land | 12 |
|---|
| Creature | 20 |
|---|
| Instant | 12 |
|---|
| Land | 12 |
|---|
| Sorcery | 4 |
|---|
Why did I choose to play this deck at the Pro
Tour?
Well, actually, we tested almost every deck in
order not to play Jund. As Jund is the center of the metagame, everyone should
have been testing around it, trying to beat it, this means that, if you play
Jund, you will either be facing decks which should do at least close to 50/50
against you, or you should play a mirror match. That's the theory. Add to this
the fact that the deck is known by everyone and you can’t be too excited about
playing Jund. So the week after GP Oakland, we tried to find a deck which could
beat Jund and still have decent matchups against the rest of the field.
The Ruels had a fun Hedron Crab deck which won
against many decks in the metagame, but lost too often to Jund and RDW. Losing
against 30% of the field was enough for me not to waste too much time testing
it. We tried even some random decks, like Polymorph or Spreading Seas, and
quickly figured out that not many decks had a good matchup against Jund. We
then tried RDW, and everything changed. We had a deck which could beat Jund
pretty easily but also had many other good matchups, like Elves or Naya.
The only big problem of this deck is Kor Firewalker. As we started testing against WW, we just never lost a game where
our opponent didn't have it. On the other hand, we never won a game when he had
it. The problem is that even after sideboarding you don't have a good answer to
it. The best you can do is playing Unstable Footing after it blocked or before
an Earthquake. Not only is Kor Firewalker playable in WW decks, it is also playable
in many sideboards too. Bant, for example, can easily add 3 copies of it after
game 1, making the matchup very bad for RDW, and the same can apply to Naya
decks or white control decks like Patriot or UW.
So what did really make me play this deck after
all? Well, time is the main reason. In France I just didn't have much time to
prepare for the PT, so I tested during the week between Oakland and San Diego.
After a few days of testing many decks and drafting as well, you eventually
have to settle on a deck before Friday morning. Another important reason which
made me play this deck was that it was a Pro Tour. For a Regional Championship,
I wouldn't play RDW as I would expect a way too high proportion of white aggro
decks, but in a PT, you generally won't see a lot of WW decks, as experienced
players tend to play more complicated decks. All in all, RDW seemed to be a
fine choice, as well as Jund maybe, but I just didn't feel like playing Jund
mirror matches all day long.
Assuming Jund would be at least 25% of the
field, Naya maybe close to 10% as it won the World Championships, Elves and
Vampires forming together another 10+% of the field, plus random combo decks
like Valakut or Crypt of Agadeem decks, I should have a very good matchup
against more than half of the field. Let's say I have 30% coin flip matchups, I
then end up with less than 20% of rather bad matchups. The coin flip matchups are
Junk (aka GWx Angels...), Boros and some control decks like Patriot and the
mirror obviously, which is why I have 3 Dragon's Claw after board. Against
control decks I played a single Manabarbs, as I never want to have 2 of them in
the same game, and even 1 can sometimes screw me more than help me, and the Goblin Ruinblasters, which are also very good against Jund or Junk for example. Mark of Mutiny is here to grab a Baneslayer Angel for the final swing, and Unstable Footing is just here to sell some hope against Kor Firewalker and occasionally Brave the Elements. Now that you are familiar with the deck and my thought process,
let's talk about the PT itself.
RDW 2K10
What Went Wrong In San Diego?
Though it seemed like a good choice to run the
deck at this particular event, I only managed to go 5-5 with it, a rather disappointing
record.
Round 1: Jan Ruess - GWu
This is probably the 3rd time that we
play each other in one year, I'm 0-2 so far against Jan, and so winning would
be a very good start to this Pro Tour. His version runs a lot of expensive
creatures, not the aggro kind of Bant, which is better for me. I simply kill his Noble Hierarch and Lotus Cobra the turn they hit the table and he then is too
slow. A fine sideboard plan against this deck would be to add 2 Goblin Ruinblaster
and 2 Mark of Mutiny for 2 Hell's Thunder which become bad against Angels and 1 Hellspark Elemental (subpar against Rhox War Monk) and 1 Goblin Guide, as you
don't want to give him free lands.
So far I don't like my sideboard. I didn't have
time to test it and I don't really know what to change, and worse, I don't even
like the cards I side in, though they are still better than the ones I side
out. Here, I don't want too many Ruinblasters as those decks don't play many
non-basic lands, and 2 Mark of Mutiny seems to be the maximum you can have, as
it is mostly a finisher.
In game 2 he has double Rhox War Monk and too
much ugly stuff for RDW, while in game 3 his draw is just slow and rather poor.
The key is to kill his accelerators so that you won't have to face a Baneslayer Angel too early in the game. On the other hand, you also want to keep some removal
spells for his threats, as every big guy he plays is just awful for you. Even Knight of the Reliquary, while accelerating him, can destroy you thanks to Seijiri Steppe. Luckily I won this round, let's pray for better matchups now.
Round 2, 7, 8 and 10: Jund
I put all the Jund rounds together as it is
basically the same thing every time. Amongst my Jund opponents, Adam Koska and
Tomoharu Saito are the most famous. As I mentioned earlier, the Jund matchup
should be pretty good. Game 1, you shouldn't be afraid, as they are just too
slow for your deck. They have some removal spells for your early guys but
almost all their lands enter play tapped. The most annoying thing they can do,
is to play a turn 2 Putrid Leech followed by a Sprouting Thrinax and some backup
while they are on the play, which is basically the perfect Jund draw and beats almost
any deck anyway. After board, they may have extra removal spells, Basillisk Collar or some disruption spells, but still nothing as annoying as a Kor Firewalker.
Now you might assume that I went 4-0, or maybe
3-1 because of some mulligans. Unfortunately I went 1-3. It’s always
disappointing to take a deck which beats the most popular deck and then get
destroyed by it at the tournament. So what happened? Well, first of all, I
found Goblin Ruinblaster to be not that great in this matchup. It used to be
excellent when all the Jund decks ran a lot of expensive cards, but they now
tend to play cheaper cards, which gave me the impression that it often arrived
after the war. I would still add at least 3 of them on the play, but on the
draw, a pair of Quenchable Fire could be a nice addition to the sideboard. Goblin Guide would be the card to side out on the draw while it can deal some
damage on the play. The thing is you don't want to alter the curve of your deck
too drastically as you side-in rather expensive cards, and you then become more
vulnerable to Blightnings. About the games themselves, well a lot of things
went wrong in every game and they were really close even when I mulliganed or
was flooded. Saito got the perfect Jund draw twice, with a turn 1 Lightning Bolt,
something else turn 2 and then a pair of Sprouting Thrinax and more (he is a
level 8 mage after all) and still the games were extremely close. The best
sideboard card I've seen so far for the Jund matchup is Magma Spray.
Round 3: Jun Fen Jack Ho - WW
The matchup I really don't want to face, with
maindeck Kor Firewalker and Stoneforge Mystic with Basillisk Collar. He is
lucky enough to have Kor Firewalker game 1 and 2, though game 2 I miraculously
get rid of it thanks to my awesome combo Earthquake + Unstable Footing and I’m
then about to win next turn, when he topdecks a second one. This is the reason
why I'm not even sure Unstable Footing has a place in the sideboard as you lose
this matchup anyway.
Round 4: Martin Juza - Junk (GWb)
After Adam Koska, Martin is the next Blackborder
feature writer I'm paired against in this Pro Tour. Winning the die roll is
really important, as game 1 is close to 50/50 on paper, but the one who starts
is ahead with regular draws, and winning game 1 means you'll at least start
game 3. I win the roll, kill his accelerators and easily take game 1. The other
games should be more difficult, I hope he doesn't have Kor Firewalker and side
in some Goblin Ruinblasters and a pair of Mark of Mutiny. I only remember that his
draw was rather slow and he did not draw his Wall of Reverence.
Round 5: Brad Nelson - Naya
Searing Blaze and Earthquake are the 2 key
cards he can't really deal with. You have to pay attention to his equipments
which can take the game, but otherwise, your maindeck is made to beat Naya, no
need to side anything. After board, Baneslayer Angel is the other real danger.
Round 12: Koutarou Ootsuka - Valakut Combo
He played an Expedition Map game 1 and scooped
a few turns later. I didn't really know the deck that well, and as I saw no
creature I sided out Searing Blaze for Goblin Ruinblaster, which doesn’t seem
that good as Koutarou runs Harrow in his deck, but Searing Blaze would be a
dead card if he has no creature. Game 2 he has Lightning Bolt and Burst Lightning for my early guys, but that’s just not enough, because his deck is way
too slow.
Round 13 or 14: Can't remember who my opponent
was, sorry - Bant
A bad matchup at the end of the day. I win game
1 and wanted to be original for the last one, therefore I side the same way as
I did round 1. Unfortunately after board I have to face Rhox War Monks and Baneslayer Angel in addition to Kor Firewalker, which is too much for the deck
to deal with.
Summing Up
10 rounds, 6 good matchups (4 Jund, 1 Naya, 1
Valakut), 2 coin flips (2 GWx) and 2 bad matchups (WW and Bant). Well this is
about what I hoped for before the PT. 5-5 is a bad result considering the matchups
I played, but looking back at the games, there is just not much I could have
done differently. The maindeck is really good, I wouldn't change it, but the
sideboard can be improved.
I would certainly keep the 4 of them as it is
good against control decks, but if you need more space you can cut 1 as it is
not that good against Jund. Don't forget that against control, you often side
out 4 Searing Blaze, so you need 4 cards to side in, like 3 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Manabarbs.
Definitely not a huge fan of it. You might need
it though, but I wouldn’t play more than 3 copies.
I never used it, but if you believe RDW is
going to be played, keep it in the sideboard.
I thought it could be good, but it's actually just
a gimmick. 2 of them is the maximum I would play, as in the matchups where you want
to bring them in you already want to board Goblin Ruinblaster too.
It did not make the cut, but I think it would
be pretty good against all those GWx decks.
Good against Jund, but is it better than Goblin Ruinblaster? Well, this time you have to do the testing, as I just don't know.
I've played no game against Open the Vaults,
but maybe after board you could need some of these.
You can try a splash to have an answer to Kor Firewalker.
The black splash makes you run 4 Dragonskull Summit and 2 Lavaclaw Reaches. If
you play White, you need Terramorphic Expanse and a basic Plains and can then
change the deck a bit, with Ajani Vengeant and Zektar Shrine Expedition, though
it would then be another deck...
A Final Word
Though I like this deck and I think it is quite
strong, I wouldn't play it at Regionals as I expect too many White aggro decks,
and generally too many Kor Firewalkers in sideboards, or even random hate cards
like Dragon's Claw. But if you believe Jund, Naya and Vampires are the decks to
beat at your next Standard tournament, you should give this deck a try. If I
personally had to play one of those events, I would play a rather stable deck
such as Naya, Jund, Junk or a good list of a control deck with Day of Judgment,
or even White Weenie, as it seems fine against Jund. I know that leaves you with
many options, but that also means the format is pretty open after all.
Good luck at the tables, and see you in
Brussels!
Yann
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Hi Yann, Thanks for the article. What do you think about Stone Idol Trap against Firewalker?
I was wondering what you think of smoldering spires as a way around firewalkers, first strikers, and even a baneslayer for the win?
I'm not sure if Stone Idol Trap is a good answer to Firewalker, but you're so desesperate against it that it could actually be fine. Maybe a mix of Footing and Trap would be a good idea.
Smoldering Spires: It comes tapped so it's already a big drawback, and anyway it isn't good enough to be worth playing it. First strikers are annoying but you always have enough blasts for them, while Firewalker, blocking or not, it doesn't make a big difference most of the times.
Thanks for the great article on your matches in San Diego. Sorry to hear about the results though. RDW doesn't have a real good answer to Kor Firewalker.
I agree with you about the Goblin Ruinblasters too. I have them in my sideboard but don't normally use them as nonbasic lands usually come into play tapped giving me basically a free turn to hit with something bigger and many other decks use fetch lands as the only nonbasic lands making the Ruinblasters pretty useless. I still don't want to be caught with my down against a Valakut deck so I keep them in the sideboard for now.
I think Quenchable Fire may be better than the Ruinblasters, against Jund, if you damage your opponent with all your burn and leave his creatures alone. This combined with your creatures attacking should be enough to quickly take your opponent out. I am seriously thinking about adding them in over the Mark of Mutinys I have in the sideboard.
RDW definitely needs help against Kor Firewalker. Lets hope it will be in the next set.
Quenchable Fire is indeed better than Goblin Ruinblaster vs Jund. A 4-drop that only blows up a land after they hit their Thrinax mana anyhow is pretty poor, as Thrinax is their #1 stopper for your deck. Also of note, they don't play any real lifegain spells, and without blue mana, QF is a near guaranteed 6 damage at the end of your curve, which 99% of the time will finish them off all by itself if your draw was even halfway decent. I play 3 in the SB just for the Jund matchup as they sit there helpless as you finish them off before their dragons and seige-gangs can do much of anything to you.
*edit addin* To the player worried about Valakut Ramp - You will most likely be running them over before they can get their combo online. If for some reason they have tons of burn, then you have plenty of time to put more pressure on them and keep burning them with your burn. Also, QF is good against them too as it's also a guaranteed 6 dmg to them from 1 card, basically a 4 mana Ball Lightning that can't be blocked/burnt. Basically, why worry about killing their Valakut when you can just kill them long before they get online?
In comparison to Jeroen Kanis' version of the deck, which managed to Top-8 the tournament, it's clear that he was designing more towards Jund than you were. In exchange for a Burst Lightning and an Earthquake he played two Quenchable Fires in main, and not one but three Manabarbs in the side. He didn't run Ruinblasters, but opted for more late-game reach with a pair of Hellkite Chargers, which presumably is aimed towards more controlling opponents.
Interestingly, in your report you mentioned Ruinblasters not living up to the hype against our number one boogeyman, Jund, so I'm inclined to think that Kanis' approach on RDW was simply better tailored. It could easily be due to lack of time to test, but it does indicate that designing RDW to beat Jund even in the main is a recipe for success. This of course is hardly a surprise at the archetype still makes out about a fourth of the field, but it does imply what lengths you must go to make that one encounter tolerable.
What exactly are the Hellkite Chargers in Jeroens' board for? And is it actually good to side in Manabarbs vs Jund?
I don't really know about the chargers.
And it could be a huge mistake to side in manabarbs against a deck wich can actually race you, you only want this enchantment against slow control decks with expensive spells. Against Jund, your maindeck is already very good and you can add some ruinblasters or quenchable fires for example.
i (tom van lamoen) designed the deck jeroen kanis played along with bram snepvangers
the chargers were ment vs firewalkers or dragons claws and the mirror. manabarbs were not for jund coz its really bad when they take 4 or 5 damage but get 2 spells for it.
i agree that ruinblaster isnt needed anymore but it was also okat vs the controll decks to make baneslayer come a turn later.
Hello Yann
I think, that not bad response on Kor Firewalker is punishing fire .. ( Burnwillows combo in standart )
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