Innovations - Hollywood or Bust, by Patrick Chapin at StarCityGames.com! http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?

Article=15902

Innovations - Hollywood or Bust

by Patrick Chapin

Hollywood is next week…

The question on everyone’s mind is "How do you beat Faeries?" (Or

alternatively, "why not play Faeries?")

Let’s start with the first question. How do you beat Faeries? May I suggest:

Red Deck Wins

A Standard deck, by Evan Erwin
3rd place at a StarCityGames.com >,000 Standard Open
tournament in Richmond, Virginia, United States on
2008-05-11
As reported at http://www.starcitygames.com
Print this deck!

Maindeck: Sideboard:
Sorceries
4 Fulminator Mage
Creatures 4 Rift Bolt
3 Spitebellows
2 Countryside Basic Lands
2 Vexing Shusher
Crusher 3 Everlasting Torment
16 Mountain 3 Sulfurous Blast
4 Keldon
Lands
Marauders 3 Ghitu Encampment
Stats:
4 Magus Of The Average mana: 1.48
4 Mutavault
Average creature mana
Moon cost: 1.88
4 Mogg Fanatic Average creature power:
4 Tattermunge 2.11
Average creature
Maniac toughness: 1.88

Instants Deck Composition:

Basic Lands: 26.67%
4 Flame Javelin Creatures: 30.00%
4 Incinerate Instants: 25.00%
4 Lash Out Lands: 11.67%
Sorceries: 6.67%
3 Shard Volley

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This is the Owen Turtenwald/Nighbor creation that Evan Erwin piloted to a

3rd place finish at the StarCityGames.com $2,000 Open tournament held
last weekend. It was designed by Owen and Nighbor to destroy the Faeries,
and that it does in spades.

To begin with, aggressive creatures put a quick clock on Faeries and this
deck has no shortage of burn to punish a player too reliant on
Bitterblossom. On top of that, Flame Javelin answers Mistbind Clique very
efficiently.

Cryptic Command can be left stranded in a Faeries player’s hand,

uncastable as a result of one of the four maindeck copies of Magus of the
Moon that can totally lock out - or at least heavily punish - a Faerie player,
who will typically crutch heavily on non-basics with almost no maindeck
answers.

On top of this, seven man-lands provide plenty of uncounterable threats,

plus cards like Sower of Temptation, Rune Snag, and Scion of Oona have
trouble yielding much for a pilot of the Fae.

The sideboard only improves things for Erwin. His Fulminator Mages can
help continue the assault of the Faerie manabase. Sulfurous Blast is a
threat that allows Erwin the ability to Wrath at instant speed with value.
Vexing Shusher is a potent tool, especially if you remove easily Terrorable
threats like Countryside Crusher and Tattermunge Maniac.

You can actually transform Evan’s Magic Show Red into a monstrosity that
is nearly immune to removal, utilizing such creatures as Mogg Fanatic,
Fulminator Mage, and so on to ensure that removal will get your opponent
nowhere.

The interesting thing about this setup is that the Faeries player cannot be
sure of what your post board configuration will be. In addition, as the Red

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Innovations - Hollywood or Bust, by Patrick Chapin at StarCityGames.com! http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/print.php?Article=15902

Mage, you certainly have other options available to you, particularly with
regards to how your sideboard is to end up.

The maindeck is pretty close to how I would recommend playing this style of
Red deck, with the following keys to remember:

1. Your burn spells should all deal at least 3 damage. No Shocks and no
Tarfires, as they just don’t deal enough damage to warrant the cost of a
card. Personally, I think Shard Volley is still a little loose, so if you are
looking to cut a burn spell, look here.
2. You only have so much room at the three-spot on your mana curve. That
means as good as Boggart Ram-Gang is, you have to make some tough
choices. Magus of the Moon is one of the keys to beating Faeries.
Countryside Crusher gives you game against Tarmogoyf. Fulminator Mage
can be highly disruptive, but might not be good enough to maindeck with
the current metagame.
3. Man-lands are vital, Megaliths don’t belong. Personally, I think Erwin has
the perfect mix.
4. Erwin’s sideboard needs work. Everlasting Torment is a shady card, but if
you don’t resort to it, what is your solution to Primal Command and Kitchen
Finks?

Is Magic Show Red the solution to the metagame? Maybe, maybe not. It
depends on how much Fae you expect versus how much G/x Big Mana. G/x
Big Mana can be very difficult for Red decks, featuring plenty of basics, life
gain, blockers, and impossible-to-handle threats.

Still, there is no question, if your goal is to beat up on the Faeries, there are
fewer better ways than with Red Decks, and Magic Show Red in particular.
For more on Magic Show Red, straight from Erwin himself, look here.

But is it the only way…?

Another possible solution to the metagame is the quintessentially popular

Doran. Doran strategies have been popular long before Doran himself was
ever printed. They are actually, at their core, Junk decks, B/G/W Aggro
decks featuring a small disruptive suite, but particularly hard-hitting beats.

With the printing of Doran, the Siege Tower, pilots such as Israel’s Uri
Peleg have been championing the splash of White in the exceptionally
popular B/G combination. Doran Tarmogoyf, and Chameleon Colossus
provide hard hitting beats. Thoughtseize, Primal Command, and options for
cards like Riftsweeper, Mind Shatter, and Fulminator Mage provide
excellent disruption.

There is also no shortage of support cards, such as Bitterblossom and

Nameless Inversion. Mana acceleration, good sideboard cards, and plenty
of removal are all available. Plus no other deck in Standard makes such
good use of the Tarmogoyf.

Here is a possible build:

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Doran
Suggested by Patrick Chapin on 2008-05-25 as a potential
deck for Standard
As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/15902.html
Print this deck!

Maindeck: Sideboard:
Tribal Enchantments
2 Cloudthresher
Creatures 4 Bitterblossom
3 Faerie Macabre
4 Birds Of Tribal Instants
1 Kitchen Finks
Paradise 2 Riftsweeper
3 Nameless Inversion 3 Slaughter Pact
2 Chameleon 2 Squall Line
Basic Lands
Colossus 2 Forest
1 Primal Command
2 Kitchen Finks 1 Thoughtseize
2 Llanowar Elves Lands
Stats:
4 Caves Of Koilos
1 Shriekmaw 3 Gilt-leaf Palace
Average mana: 1.47
4 Tarmogoyf Average creature mana
2 Horizon Canopy
cost: 2.36
2 Llanowar Wastes
Average creature power:
4 Murmuring Bosk
Enchantments 4 Treetop Village
1.00
3 Oblivion Ring Average creature
toughness: 2.10
Legendary Lands
1 Pendelhaven
Legendary 1 Urborg, Tomb Of
Deck Composition:
Basic Lands: 3.33%
Creatures Yawgmoth
Creatures: 25.00%
4 Doran, The Enchantments: 5.00%
Siege Tower Lands: 31.67%
Legendary Creatures:
6.67%
Planeswalkers Legendary Lands: 3.33%
2 Garruk Planeswalkers: 3.33%
Sorceries: 10.00%
Wildspeaker Tribal Enchantments: 6.67%
Tribal Instants: 5.00%
Sorceries
1 Primal
Command
2 Profane
Command
3 Thoughtseize

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Granted, this list is a certainly full of some random numbers, but it

represents a variety of ideas I think have potential.

Chameleon Colossus is one of the most powerful cards that is not being
played as much as it should. It is such a fast clock, it powers up tribal cards,
it’s difficult for many players to handle, it can’t be blocked by Bitterblossom
tokens, and so on. It is slightly annoying that it can’t be given Fear with
Profane Command, but this is made up for by the fact that opponent’s
Terrors, Nameless Inversions, and other Black removal spells are
worthless.

Bitterblossom is a fantastic card that non-Faeries players would do well to

remember is not just a potent threat, but is also one of the best anti-Faeries
cards available. It is certainly fun to combine it with Garruk.

Kitchen Finks is a solid beater than helps gain some percentage against
aggro, and is fine just as a random guy. He might prove to be greater than
Loxodon Hierarch when all is said and done, and is currently my number
two card in the set behind Fulminator Mage, though it may be number one.

Primal Command is just too powerful to not play and there should probably
be more. It is the actual definition of a card that always performs better than
it looks. It also helps turn on the sideboard.

The maindeck Oblivion Rings are useful tools for dealing with opposing
creatures, but have obviously been chosen over something like Terror
because of their ability to remove Bitterblossom. It is interesting that this
build has many strong ways to win Bitterblossom battles, the current
Standard version of Sensei’s Divining Top battles, though with much less
decision making.

With Thoughtseize preemptively striking the Blossoms, Oblivion Rings to

remove those that hit, and the maximum Bitterblossoms of your own, there
is a great chance that you can have Bitterblossom advantage over even a
Faerie player. You even have Nameless Inversion to help fight back if they
have Scion.

Speaking of the Faeries matchup, it should be noted that Faeries can have
a lot of trouble with Doran himself, in addition to the Colossus. Doran is
immune to Terror and Nameless Inversion, and even if they Sower him, you
have ways to remove Sower.

A turn 2 Doran is a very real plan, and Faeries is essentially drawing dead
to that draw, save the hard turn 2 Bitterblossom serving as a Forcefield.
Thus, it is important to plan on gaining Bitterblossom advantage.

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Faeries has always been vulnerable to quick beats, and this Doran
approach is more anti-Fae than many, especially once you sideboard in
Riftsweeper to deal with Visions, Threshers and Squall Lines to deal with
combat, and Slaughter Pact to deal with Mistbind Clique, Scion, and Sower.

Speaking of the sideboard, Slaughter Pact is a hot card that is having a

renaissance of sorts. It helps answer Mistbind Clique, Scion, Magus of the
Moon, Tarmogoyf, Man-Lands, and more. Be careful, it is an easy card to
Spellstutter Sprite, that is no question.

Faerie Macabre is an interesting addition. It is questionable how much

graveyard combo will show up in Hollywood, but Faerie Macabre is an ideal
answer to Doran’s worst match-up. You can fetch it with Primal Command,
it doesn’t require mana to be kept up to use it, and it is ideal for stopping
Reveillark and 420.5n.

The key is that with Extirpate you are paying for the ability to deny the
opponent the ability to do something when going long. With Faerie Macabre
you gain tempo, and since your plan with Doran is to race, you need all the
tempo you can get versus combo.

It is quite a bad beat when you Extirpate a Reveillark that died in combat
only to be facing down a Riftwing Cloudskate and a Mulldrifter. Is that really
the battle you want to be fighting? If you Extirpate Redcap, they could still
have Kitchen Finks etc. Extirpate could be a better option if you are
focusing very heavily on being controlling and going long enough to see the
benefit of the library thinning, plus have a plan to deal with the value your
opponent will have already gained.

Is there really enough graveyard combo to warrant the slots? It is unclear,

but when you have a strategy like Doran which is so solid against the rest of
the field, why not give yourself a strong plan against your worst match-up,
even if it isn’t that popular?

As you can see, Faeries is far from unbeatable. We are just stuck a
feedback loop caused by the highly inbred world of MTGO and
MTGO-related Magic. MTGO has fallen victim to inbred metagames before,
and it will again. The StarCityGames tournament, while full of fine
Magicians, wasn’t populated by an army of Wafo-Tapas and Nassifs. The
sky is not falling.

There are so many unexplored possibilities. What happened to Momentary

Blink? What about Mystical Teachings? What about Vesuvan Shapeshifter?
What about Dragonstorm? Don’t be fooled. Aside from all these forgotten
strategies, strategies like anti-tribal Big Mana, Elves, and Merfolk are all
viable ways to fight Faeries and still be armed with a strategy that can battle
the random decks you will encounter in other rounds.

Evan Erwin predicted 40% Faeries in Hollywood. I will have to go ahead

and respectfully take the under. Time will tell… Rebels? Affinity? Believe
me, Faeries is not even in the same league. Still, this weekend we have an
excellent opportunity for people to put their money where their mouth is…

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As I write this, I am sitting in an old friend’s apartment in sunny Southern

California. I flew in yesterday and hit up a strip of clubs on Hermosa Beach.
Definitely a good time, no question. I am meeting up with one of my sisters
today and we are gonna go chill in Burbank.

I gotta tell you, this whole professional Magic Player thing certainly has
some perks. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to travel to beautiful
locations and hang out with great people, both the Magic players I have
met, and family and friends at each location.

It is 91 degrees outside!

I’m not 100% sure I will be able to rock a suit in this temperature, but who
knows, maybe the AC will be kicking…

For the next few days, I am meeting up with Team RIW and continuing work
on breaking the format. Team RIW is sending a solid squad to this event.
Mark Herberholz, Gabriel Nassif, Michael Jacob, DJ Kastner, Kyle
Boggemes, and myself are playing on behalf of the team this time. We are
also working with Luis Scott-Vargas and Paul Cheon for this event, bringing
in the West Coast specialists.

I would also like to take a moment to thank Paul Nicolo and Phil Cape,
without whom I would not be nearly as prepared for this tournament as I
am. They are a couple of great local players who have enjoyed some
modest success in the past year and are very much on their way up.

So what about this weekend? What about Pro Tour: Hollywood?

Tune in and find out. It will definitely be a good time!

See you on the other side…

Patrick Chapin
"The Innovator"

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