Attention to Detail #19
What SSS Can Do For You
by Jordan Kronick
April 28, 2006
It's been a dizzying week of Magic. I've
spent the last few days helping the Magic Online team beta
test Dissension. Between all the games of kitchen sink
prismatic and fun with the new Vanguard avatars, I've had a
little time to think about the future of Ravnica block
constructed, now that I have the cards in front of me. My
initial assumptions of the viability of blue-white-green
control needed to be tested. The strength of the Rakdos
needed to be taken into account. And all the crazy new combo
cards needed to be checked as well. While I was thinking
about all that, I happened to watch a guy I know play a
match. He was running a deck that hadn't occurred to me. And
over the course of the beating he handed his opponent, I
realized just what I needed to be playing. From that match I
assembled a deck list. This week, I present to you an
exciting new deck. Then I'll have some words about just how
it functions and the matchups I've had the ability to try.
30 Spells
4x Compulsive Research
4x Remand
4x Muddle the Mixture
4x Farseek
4x Electrolyze
4x Voidslime
4x Research // Development
2x Invoke the Firemind
6 Creatures
4x Carven Caryatid
2x Simic Sky Swallower
24 Lands
4x Breeding Pool
4x Steam Vents
2x Simic Growth Chamber
2x Izzet Boilerworks
8x Island
3x Forest
1x Mountain
I haven't had this much fun with a control deck in years.
The problem that I was finding with the UWG control deck was
that it lacked answers. A format without a decent Wrath of
God variant tends to be that way, and Hour of Reckoning just
isn't going to cut the mustard. In my desire to use the new
Azorius control elements, I was ignoring the fine removal
elements that already existed from Guildpact. The best thing
about the Ravnica block format is that you don't have to be
confined to standard conventions about what colors work
together. There's a guild for every combination now, and the
people who win will be the ones who take advantage of that.
This deck reminds me in many ways of the blue-green tempo
decks of Invasion block. However, it combines this quick
control with two other historical elements. First, of
course, is the burn. While there are only six burn spells in
the deck, it often feels like there are a lot more. The deck
draws cards fast enough that you can expect to see plenty of
removal for the things that slip through the cracks in your
counter wall. The acceleration elements provided by the
green cards help to ensure that you get what you need and
can use it in time for it to matter. There's a lot of
complex elements at work here, and this deck rewards a
player who knows how to look ahead and use every card to
it's greatest effect. There's not much margin for error with
this deck. Here's the breakdown on the choices I made with
the design:
Compulsive Research – This is clearly the best card drawer
available right now. Although it's tempting to try some of
the new stuff like Vision Skeins, it just doesn't seem like
that would pay off. The sorcery speed can be troubling, but
I find that with the large number of cantrips in the deck,
you don't need to cast the Researches until the mid-game
anyhow. So it isn't much of a problem.
Remand – Before Dissension, I would say this was the
best counterspell in Ravnica block. Now we've got Voidslime,
but this is still great. In a deck like this, you can really
see just how much better than Memory Lapse this card can be.
It's easy on the color requirements, which is nice. Most
importantly, it helps you keep your hand full. It's even
beneficial against Rakdos decks that want to empty their
hands as quickly as possible. There wasn't a moment when I
didn't think about including Remand in this deck.
Muddle the Mixture – I have to admit that this is the most
questionable card in the deck. It was used in the version of
the deck that I first observed, but I'm still uncertain
about it. Against some decks it is incredibly strong.
Against some decks it's basically worthless. Usually the
Transmute ability would be useful in those situations, but
this deck has very little to transmute for. Farseek and
Remand are the only choices. In the late game, neither of
these is particularly interesting. I've considered switching
it for the Spell Snares which currently occupy the
sideboard, but those have even more potential to be dead
cards. If a new option presents itself, Muddle the Mixture
is on the chopping block.
Farseek – I might not have immediately included this, had I
originally designed this deck myself. However, I'm impressed
by it. Farseek evens things out nicely and makes the colored
mana requirements often a second thought. Of course, holding
mana for a Remand is usually more important on turn 2 than
casting this, but as soon as you can sneak it through, it
helps out immensely.
Electroylyze – The first of the three red elements in the
deck, this has proven to be invaluable. The worst enemy of
this deck is the quick rush. Electrolyze deals with that
perfectly. It's also efficient removal against the most dire
threat of all – Rakdos Augermage. I've so far never had one
of these actually get to use it's ability against me, and I
hope I never have to. The ability to tear the counterspells
– or even worse, win conditions – out of this deck is a very
real concern. If this card didn't exist, there would be no
reason for there to be red mana in here at all.
Voidslime – I had a hunch that I would love this card when I
saw it in the form of a spoiler. Now that I've gotten to use
it, my hunch is confirmed. Much like lumber, Voidslime has a
million uses. I've countered Augurmages, Angels of Despair,
lethal activations of Seals of Fire and – most importantly –
the “return this to play” triggered ability of Ghost Council
of Orzhova. This combined with the robust defense of Carven
Caryatid makes Ghost Council basically a non-issue. This
will never be a dead card.
Research and Development – This is one of the first things I
changed about this deck after I put it together. I wanted to
try out the Development half of this card, and it turned out
to be fantastic. There are very few situations where the
board position is such that this card won't have an impact.
I seem to get three cards off of it frequently, which is
never bad. If this were a sorcery, it would have no place in
this deck. That it is an instant is proof to me that Wizards
R&D has not completely abandoned powerful card draw. I've
never used the Research half of this card, and honestly I
doubt I ever will. The only situation I can see it being
necessary is if I need to bring my Stomphowlers in from the
sideboard against a Dovescape deck. Having that option there
is nice, but ultimately moot.
Invoke the Firemind – This deck only has 3 different
potential finishers.
One of them is the above-mentioned Development. If the
opponent doesn't choose to give you elementals, then that
plan is right out. The second one is the huge creature which
I'll talk about in a moment. Thirdly is this card. So far,
evey time I've used it, it's been a Blaze. I've never been
in a situation where I needed to use the card draw to try to
pull an answer, and I hope I won't have to be. As such, I'm
seriously considering switching this for Demonfire. The
hellbent ability probably won't come in handy too often, but
otherwise it's probably superior. The remove-from-game
clause could also come in handy against Firemane Angels.
It's a minor change, but I think it's something I'll have to
do soon.
Carven Caryatid - +2/+1 for G may seem like a good deal, but
I still wish this was a Wall of Blossoms. One of the only
problems I seem to run into with the mana from this deck is
that I'm often stuck with only two green mana in play and
the choice between playing Carven Caryatid or holding back
for a Voidslime. Still, even with that problem, this card is
a huge benefit. It holds back early attackers while
punishing the low toughness that most of them have. It's not
going to stop a Watchwolf, but it certainly prevents those
early Gobhobbler Rats from annoying you. I wouldn't pull
this card for anything less than the Wall of Blossoms that
it wishes it could be.
Simic Sky Swallower – I've saved the best for last. When I
was watching this deck played for the first time, I was
curious as to what the win condition was. His deck didn't
have the Developments, and I knew it couldn't be as simple
as just being Invoke the Firemind. Then he dropped the big
beastie, and I was elated. It's so simple and yet so
ingenious. Control decks have often relied on creatures with
lots of expensive abilities to make it survivable and
powerful. Morphling, for instance, requires an investment of
mana every turn to make it both survivable and also
aggressive enough to finish the game. SSS doesn't have that
problem. For two more mana than Morphling you get something
that flies all the time, is always untargetable, and is
larger than a Morphling could ever hope to be. And it
doesn't require to you keep mana open to protect it from
removal. In the future of RBC and Standard, I think having
an answer to SSS is going to be an important concern for
every theoretical deck.
The sideboard presented some interesting questions. The
metagame is still a bit unsure, so most of the choices were
fairly generalized. I picked the Dream Leashes as a way of
snwering Firemane Angels, among other things. The Repeals
didn't make the main deck, but I still wanted them as an
option against Rakdos decks which can be severely punished
by a little bit of bounce. The Indrik Stomphowlers are my
answer to Dovescape control decks, as they give me an out
and another win condition. The most important card in the
sideboard however is Spell Snare. Against some decks, it
really shines. The number of two drops of importance has
really never been higher. Zoo decks are packing Watchwolves,
Lightning Helixes and Dryad Sophisticates. Simic graft decks
have Silhana Ledgewalkers (which can be a real pain to deal
with). And possibly worst of all is one of the new split
cards – Seek. This card can quickly remove your SSSs from
the deck while simultaneously gaining a bunch of life. The
deck doesn't have enough win conditions to be able to spare
them to this card. Spell Snare is incredible, and I've
strongly considered adding it to the maindeck.
The deck plays much as any other slightly tempo based deck
does. It tries to set up an early defense while also
developing the mana base. Eventually it establishes control
and superior card advantage and then drops a threat to win
the game with. One of the reasons I love this deck so much
is that it doesn't play like a classic control deck. This is
definitely not draw-go. Every turn you're going to have to
make choices about how much mana to leave open for answers
and how much to use to develop your position. If you put too
much emphasis on the control, you can run out of steam. If
you put too much emphasis on development (no pun intended),
you will get rolled by early threats. This is not an easy
deck to play. There are more decisions than most control
decks have to make and, as I said earlier, not much margin
for error.
Once Dissension finishes the beta testing and is released
online (which should be on May 30th), I'm going to try to
get all of these cards together for some work on the
constructed tournaments online. I'll have more fun
Dissension Beta stuff for you in the intervening weeks. Who
knows? I might even discover something that I love more than
this deck. New sets are the most fun thing that can happen
to a Magic environment. New choices and new strategies.
Ravnica block may be finished, but it's true impact on
constructed formats is really only beginning to be examined.
