[Deck] GWB Awesome Sauce

[TrialByFire]

GWB Awesome Sauce

1. About the Deck
2. Decklist
3. Card By Card Analysis
4. Matchups

1. About This Deck

Disclaimer: If this deck is not innovative enough, just let me know and I will take it down. I know that it is a lot like other GWB decks out there.

This pretty much is just another random aggro/control deck, but I have been playing with this same archetype for about 6 months now, and decided to post my latest list. I have Top 8'ed 4 or 5 decently sized Legacy tournaments (30-40 people) in the last 6 months. This deck has gone through many evolutions to get to where it is now, and I believe the maindeck is optimized fully until Morningtide comes out. The SB could use a little work, but it has been gold for me so far. Anyways, on to the decklist.

2. Decklist

// Lands
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
4 Savannah
4 Scrubland
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Swamp
4 Wasteland

// Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
4 Serra Avenger
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Doran, the Siege Tower
3 Knight of Meadowgrain

// Spells
3 Vindicate
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Diabolic Edict
4 AEther Vial
4 Thoughtseize

// Sideboard
SB: 4 Pernicious Deed
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 2 Krosan Grip
SB: 3 Engineered Plague

3. Card-By-Card Analysis

Maindeck

Fetchlands - In a deck with 3 colors, I think these are self explanatory

Dual Lands - See above

Basics - Being able to cast every card in the deck except the double white creatures and Leyline out of the board with Magus of the Moon or Back to Basics out is important.

Wasteland - Deals with problem cards such as Tabernacle, Karakas, Mishra's Factory, or whatever, also allows you to randomly win games just by color screwing your opponent if they play sloppy or keep a marginal hand. Almost never useless.

Dark Confidant - Card advantage and a beater, all for a single black mana in its cost. If it lives a few turns, you usually win.

Tarmogoyf - This deck has lands that produce Broccoli. Nuff said.

Doran the Siege Tower - Most efficient beater for its cost next to the Goyf. Also makes Goyf hit harder as a side effect. Immune to Ghastly Demise and Shriekmaw.

Knight of Meadowgrain - This used to be Silver Knight, but I found that the lifegain is better than Pro: Red in every matchup except Goyf Sligh and Goblins. And even Gobs needs to find a Gempalm to kill it. With Fetches, Thoghtseize and Bob, lifegain is good.

Serra Avenger - 3/3 Flying, Vigilance for two mana. WHAT?!? Yea, she's that good. Almost never ever feel her drawback. Flies over ground stalls and carries Jitte like a champ

Umezawa's Jitte - The deck has creatures in it, so the Broken Stick of Doom is good at doing what it does. Winning games.

Aether Vial - Turn 1 Win against Landstill unless they Force, and amazing against a lot of other decks. Gets your guys in under CounterTop, and just frustrate's people's attacking plans with the potential for instant speed Goyfs and such. Set at two unless you really need a Doran in play.

Swords to Plowshares - Best removal in the format.

Diabolic Edict - Good against so many decks. Get rid of Mongeese or kill the Akroma that just got reanimated. Amazing.

Vindicate - 3 mana, Destroy ANY PERMANENT. Godly.

Engineered Explosives - Good for killing Goblin tokens, multiple Mongeese, Counterbalance, etc.

Thoughtseize - Cheap, efficient disruption. Take whatever you wants sans lands.

Sideboard

Pernicious Deed - This is where the deck shines. Games two and three, the deck can morph into a board control deck as needed by boarding out Aether Vials into Deeds. Then I play the waiting game until I stick a guy and go all the way with it. Good against other aggro and aggro/control decks.

Leyline of the Void - Stupid Graveyard Decks run rampant, and this is way to control them from turn 1 uncounterably.

Engineered Plague - Helps in a lot of matchups thanks to the creature type update, but I mostly side them in against Tribal decks (Goblins, Elves, NEVER Slivers) and Random decks that they hurt such as Breakfast naming Wizard or whatever.

Krosan Grip - Uncounterable (sans CB) and instant speed artifact and enchantment kill is good.

Extirpate - Very good against graveyard dependant decks and against Landstill. Common targets: Goyf, Mishra's Factory, Bridge from Below, Ichorid, Life from the Loam etc. They are very underated right now.

4. Matchup Analysis

Goblins - Pretty good matchup for you game 1, you have Goyf, Doran, Avenger, and Knight of Meadowgrain to trump their deck if they don't draw Gempalm Incinerator. Resolving Jitte and getting counters on it is usually the reason they scoop it up.
Post-Board: I usually bring in all the Deeds for Aether Vials.

Red Thresh - This is not a very good matchup for you because they have Bolt and other burn spells which kill almost everything that you have, and they have the cantrips to find them all. Goyf fights are not ideal because they will usually trade a Bolt or Tarfire for you Goyf. Resolving Doran is good because both Goyf die after fight and it very hard for them to kill with his 5 toughness. Also watch out for the Counterbalance and have a Explosives or Vindi ready to get rid of it. Thoughtseize is also gold in this matchup because taking a creature is really good. Also be sure to play around Daze for important things.
Post-Board: Bring in 3 Deeds, usually taking out Vials and 2 Grips in for the other Vial and a Vindicate

White Thresh - Way better matchup because they can only play 4 StP, while the red version can have up to 8 burn spells. Same basic strategy as the red thresh matchup, except your creatures live a lot longer. Some play Sea Drake, so watch out for him, and try to resolve an Avenger. It flies over everything they have, and don't forget to save at least 1 StP or Edict for Mystic Enforcer if they play it.
Post-Board: They might bring in Meddling Mage, but prolly not, regardless use the same Sideboard strategy as Red thresh

Ichorid - Game 1 is pretty shitty for you. But honestly, what deck has a good matchup against Ichorid Game 1?
Post-Board: Leylines come in for Vials, Deeds come in for Edicts and 2 StP. Extirpates comes in for 2 Vindicates. Leave one in to randomly maybe kill a land or fattie if they go with reanimate SB strategy.

Cephalid Breakfast - Try to Waste their White lands and on the play Thoughtseize is amazing (though it is against every deck). If they Chant you, there is not much you can do.
Post-Board: Leylines in for Vials, Extirpates in for Edicts, Deeds in for Explosives. Extirpating their Goyfs is pretty key, so if they ever give you yhe opening to do that, go for it.

Landstill - Resolving a turn 1 Aether Vial is usually game. Regardless, they usually don't have enough counters and removal for all your creatures, and Wasteland fucks them up. Every single one of your guys is a threat to them, and StPing their Factories is pretty good too. Resolving Jitte and a creature is usually too much for them also. Lastly, if you have to, break Standstill in THEIR endstep so they have to at least discard some of the cards.
Post-Board: Bring in Extirpate for Engineered Explosives (NONLAND permanents) and 3 Deed in for Edicts and 1 StP

[Bovinious]

Why is it called UWB if the deck is GWB?

[Nihil Credo]

The "BGW Goodstuff" archetype is usually called PT Junk, FWIW.

I'd offer some constructive criticism, but unless I get some amazing idea I'm going to submit my own (vastly different) twist on that basic concept, so that's it.

[TrialByFire]

LOL I typed the Wrong letter in the Title, if the Mods could change it that would be sweet. And PT junk is a completely different deck from like 4 years ago I thought. Oh well.

Also, finished the basic things will be adding more later but I'm sick of typing right now

[telcontar]

Hi

In the last few weeks I have been developing and testing a very similar deck, so it's nice to see you put this up for CaNGD. I didn't post mine due to doubts over whether it meets the standard for originality, given the wealth of GWB decks in the forums (pt junk, funkbrew, various Doran-based decks, etc). However, I do think it has a solid place in the current (low goblins, high goyf) metagame.

I play a very similar list to yours, with these differences:
Lands
-4 wasteland, +4 duals/fetches
I have not yet tried 4 wastes due to concerns over color stability, although I would love to get away with it if possible. Even with wastelands, I think at least 1 Bayou belongs since you might need to fetch up B/G.

Creature mix
-4 avenger/-3 knight/-2 edict, +4 spectral lynx/+3 mother of runes/+2 epochrasite
Like any aggro-control deck lacking counters, this one depends on it's creatures, and tends to lose when it either draws insufficient dorks, or they get killed, or both. So I have 2 more creatures for a total of 19, which also helps maximize Aether Vial (which as you say, is amazing).
Spectral Lynx instead of Knight hurts the matchup against goblins and other aggro-burn decks, but it is a real kicking against thresh, especially the UGw version which runs relatively little removal. It's also good against control decks with board sweepers like deed and explosives.
Since we need our creatures to stick, and they all have a big target on their heads and/or are relatively fragile, I have been playing 3 mother of runes. Protecting a confidant can win games, and it's a good blocker against goyf etc.
Epochrasite looks like jank and sometimes it's just a lame 1/1, but it has great synergy with vial and alongside lynx it provides a good long game against control decks with sweepers (landstill, etc). Competitive legacy games against non-combo decks nearly always last long enough for this to come back off suspend. Having said that, this slot could be something else - I have tested mongoose (too slow to get threshold) and the new 0/3 treefolk (underwhelming) was about to test serra avenger (but I must say I feel 4 avenger is too many - we can't always stick a vial).

My current SB has some more significant differences, as expected:
4 Engineered Plague
4 Yixlid Jailer (could be Leyline/Extirpate)
4 Gaddock Teeg (against combo)
3 Krosan Grip

I have my doubts about deed in a permanent-heavy deck with such a low curve, but you say you take out vials and play more control. I will have to try that approach.

I think this archetype can be excellent in the current metagame, and I love playing against threshold with it. Stick a vial, refuse to play into daze, and lay out one really annoying dude after another until they crumble. One thing in particular I like is how the deck plays Doran as a cheap, fat threat and not as a combo with otherwise worthless creatures.

Good luck with the contest, and I'll keep my eye on this thread.
Iain

[TrialByFire]

Hi

In the last few weeks I have been developing and testing a very similar deck, so it's nice to see you put this up for CaNGD. I didn't post mine due to doubts over whether it meets the standard for originality, given the wealth of GWB decks in the forums (pt junk, funkbrew, various Doran-based decks, etc). However, I do think it has a solid place in the current (low goblins, high goyf) metagame.

I play a very similar list to yours, with these differences:
Lands
-4 wasteland, +4 duals/fetches
I have not yet tried 4 wastes due to concerns over color stability, although I would love to get away with it if possible. Even with wastelands, I think at least 1 Bayou belongs since you might need to fetch up B/G.

Creature mix
-4 avenger/-3 knight/-2 edict, +4 spectral lynx/+3 mother of runes/+2 epochrasite
Like any aggro-control deck lacking counters, this one depends on it's creatures, and tends to lose when it either draws insufficient dorks, or they get killed, or both. So I have 2 more creatures for a total of 19, which also helps maximize Aether Vial (which as you say, is amazing).
Spectral Lynx instead of Knight hurts the matchup against goblins and other aggro-burn decks, but it is a real kicking against thresh, especially the UGw version which runs relatively little removal. It's also good against control decks with board sweepers like deed and explosives.
Since we need our creatures to stick, and they all have a big target on their heads and/or are relatively fragile, I have been playing 3 mother of runes. Protecting a confidant can win games, and it's a good blocker against goyf etc.
Epochrasite looks like jank and sometimes it's just a lame 1/1, but it has great synergy with vial and alongside lynx it provides a good long game against control decks with sweepers (landstill, etc). Competitive legacy games against non-combo decks nearly always last long enough for this to come back off suspend. Having said that, this slot could be something else - I have tested mongoose (too slow to get threshold) and the new 0/3 treefolk (underwhelming) was about to test serra avenger (but I must say I feel 4 avenger is too many - we can't always stick a vial).

My current SB has some more significant differences, as expected:
4 Engineered Plague
4 Yixlid Jailer (could be Leyline/Extirpate)
4 Gaddock Teeg (against combo)
3 Krosan Grip

I have my doubts about deed in a permanent-heavy deck with such a low curve, but you say you take out vials and play more control. I will have to try that approach.

I think this archetype can be excellent in the current metagame, and I love playing against threshold with it. Stick a vial, refuse to play into daze, and lay out one really annoying dude after another until they crumble. One thing in particular I like is how the deck plays Doran as a cheap, fat threat and not as a combo with otherwise worthless creatures.

Good luck with the contest, and I'll keep my eye on this thread.
Iain

Thanks for the criticism, I too was worried whether this archetype would be original enough. As for the Avengers, I have almost never wanted to cast one and couldn't. The number of times that has happened can be counted on one hand. Every dual land makes white, and it makes the double white cost easy to achieve. Another thing about Avenger is that I have never drawn her and not wanted her. The Flying is so good, and Vigilance just puts her over the top in my opinion. I have also tried Epochrasite and have found him underwhelming. He doesn't do enough damage and is only good in certain situations. The things thats stops him from being good are counterspells and StP. Which this format is full of. I have also tried Lynx but his 1 toughness (even with regeneration) and only 2 power for two mana is also underwhelming. Pro: Green is nice but i dont want to be blocking Goyf, I want to be attacking, and getting in for two is just not cutting it for me. The Knight is the only thing in my deck that attacks for two and isn't Bob, but he provides a four point life swing. But thanks for your support and good luck with your deck.

EDIT: Thanks mods for changing the title

[Puzzle]

The "BGW Goodstuff" archetype is usually called PT Junk, FWIW.

I'd offer some constructive criticism, but unless I get some amazing idea I'm going to submit my own (vastly different) twist on that basic concept, so that's it.PT Junk is basically Homebrew + green ; it's a control deck.
If you go for an aggro approach, the deck plays radically differently. Do you see Hymns or Sinkholes in here ? All BGW decks are not the same, you need to understand how each plays.
The aggro list is much better against gobs and is probably the best aggro available around ; it is inferior against combo though.

Here's the list I opted for and was planning to submit too. My approach was prety much to just scoop game 1 against combo and win games 2 and 3 on the side, while winning game 1 against most other decks and snatching one of the remaining two games based on the difficulty to hate it. I went 6-4 against white Threshold but couldn't get any more results so far, which is why I waited (and got sarnathed) :
// Lands
2 Karakas
4 Bayou
4 Scrubland
4 Savannah
3 Windswept Heath
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta

// Creatures
4 Mother of Runes
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Gaddock Teeg
4 Watchwolf - should have become Serra Avenger after I went for the Vials, or rather 3 Avengers + 1 Ronom Unicorn
3 Doran, the Siege Tower
2 Isamaru, Hound of Konda

// Spells
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Thoughtseize
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Vindicate - would have probably become 2 Vindicate + 1 Kami of Ancient Law
4 AEther Vial

// Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Duress
3 Engineered Explosives
4 Engineered Plague

I focused much more on creatures to get the best of Jitte and the quickest kill possible. Compared to Hymn, Gaddock Teeg slows down combo and Stax decks while offering beatings : I'd expect these 4-6 life points he gets in to make a significant difference compared to Hymn on turn 2 (which means no threat on the table and hence time for the opponent to recover).
Mother of Runes proved awesome against Threshold and I'm pretty sure it helps the gobs matchup a lot too. Karakas was quite nice too ; I tested other legendary lands but the mana cost on the activation really ruined them.

Some of the big problems for this deck are Blood Moon, Counterbalance, Humility, Moat and Confinment, which is why I was on the way to put in enchantment-killing bears. But again, I was unfortunately sarnathed before I could get a final list rolling.

[The Rack]

@Puzzle: PT Junk is not a Homebrew with Green. Junk used Spectral Lynx, River Boa, Wall of Roots and some big guys too as more of an aggro control while utilizing deed, like how I use it in Funkbrew.

The deck looks solid but why no bayous? I would warrant one inclusion for the off chance they get wasted or extirpated, which could happen, very rarely.

I really I wish I could post up Funkbrew with all these BWG decks sprouting. I like how the archetype is strong enough for every person to tweak it to their play style. Good luck with the deck!

[from Cairo]

@Puzzle: PT Junk is not a Homebrew with Green. Junk used Spectral Lynx, River Boa, and HUNTED WUMPAS (at least back in it's extended days, think they upgraded to Mystic Enforcers when that came out since its the same... but better) as more of an aggro control while utilizing deed, like how I use it in Funkbrew.

fixed :tongue:

Spectral Lynx is a complete house right now what with all the Thresh//Goyfs, as is River Boa for that matter. Is Knight of Meadowgrain really proving to be better than one of those two in testing? seems weak sauce compared.

[Puzzle]

@Puzzle: PT Junk is not a Homebrew with Green. Junk used Spectral Lynx, River Boa, Wall of Roots and some big guys too as more of an aggro control while utilizing deed, like how I use it in Funkbrew. So much for me. It remains a control deck though and has even less to do with this aggro BGW list.

Lynx is fine for aggro, while River Boa seems just inferior to it in pretty much all cases imo.
I agree that Knight of Meadowgrain doesn't seem on-par with these. It helps the goblins matchup more but this one should be quite positive anyway ; Threshold is imo harder (all the games I've played against it have been tight both ways) and more important now and Knight of Meadowgrain doesn't do much here : Threshold wins if the game lasts unless you have evasion and hence, the life gain is pretty much irrelevant.

However, the best 2-drops for the aggro deck, imo, are definitely Goyf, Confidant & Avenger and I think Gaddock solves more problems (like stealing a couple of combo and Stax games here and there) than Lynx or Boa anyway, not mentioning the Karakas plays.


The absence of Bayous is indeed puzzling and I think they should come in for the Wastelands. Wasteland with only 3 Vindicates and a tight land base won't screw opponents often enough, particularly compared to the number of times when it will color-screw you in this 3-color deck.

[TrialByFire]

First strike and lifelink outweigh regeneration (StP exists) and Protection from Green. First strike is by far the best thing about them, holding every goblin and Ichorids at bay while gaining 2 life is amazing. Not to mention that combines with Jitte you gain 4 and even 6 or 8 life on a swing. These things are not to be overlooked. The value it also gains in the combo mathup is amazing and you sometimes steal game 1's from them because of it. Just from this thing attacking or blocking a couple times puts you over the threshold of the amount of damage combo can actually do to you. I have extensive testing against Ichorid and Charbelcher, and some solid results against TES. Trust me when I say this and I will restate it again from my first post: The Mainboard is completely optimized creature-wise. There are no better choices than the ones I made, and I have the testing from 6 months worth of tournaments and MWS to prove it.

Also, there is no need for Bayous. People, test the deck before theorizing. It is base white. Every single land NEEDS to make white, trust me on that. And the Wasteland are not only there to punish 4 color decks, mana denial in general is a good strategy, and if all it is going to cost you is a land drop then so be it. Not to mention the other amazing things Wasteland does like kill Tabernacle, Karakas, Volrath's Stronghold, Academy Ruins, Ancient tomb, Waste-ing you own lands in resp to Price of Progress, the possiblities are almost infinite. Also, if you know how to mulligan, Wasteland color screwing yourself will happen so little that it usually won't matter

[Puzzle]

First strike and lifelink outweigh regeneration (StP exists) and Protection from Green. First strike is by far the best thing about them, holding every goblin and Ichorids at bay while gaining 2 life is amazing. Not to mention that combines with Jitte you gain 4 and even 6 or 8 life on a swing. These things are not to be overlooked. The value it also gains in the combo mathup is amazing and you sometimes steal game 1's from them because of it. Just from this thing attacking or blocking a couple times puts you over the threshold of the amount of damage combo can actually do to you. I have extensive testing against Ichorid and Charbelcher, and some solid results against TES. Trust me when I say this and I will restate it again from my first post: The Mainboard is completely optimized creature-wise. There are no better choices than the ones I made, and I have the testing from 6 months worth of tournaments and MWS to prove it.The Knight can't attack before turn 3. Combo will have taken off by then. 2 more life points don't stop it anyway in most cases.
Against gobs, Silver Knight is just better because it's unburnable ; same thing against red Threshold, although it isn't good either there anyway.
Against the current meta, where Threshold is king and Tarmogoyf is everywhere, protection from green is just better than lifelink. Lynx and Boa are not good just because of regeneration, it's really accessory : they are good because they are unblockable for Threshold. The Knight dies to all Threshold creatures.

Don't claim you're right about everything without verifiable proof and don't claim 6-month tournament experience on cards that are not even 4-month old.

[TrialByFire]

The Knight can't attack before turn 3. Combo will have taken off by then.
Against gobs, Silver Knight is just better because it's unburnable ; same thing against red Threshold, although it isn't good either there anyway.
Against the current meta, where Threshold is king and Tarmogoyf is everywhere, protection from green is just better than lifelink. Lynx and Boa are not good just because of regeneration, it's really accessory : they are good because they are unblockable for Threshold. The Knight dies to all Threshold creatures.

Don't claim you're right about everything without verifiable proof and don't claim 6-month tournament experience on cards that are not even 4-month old.

First things first, the Knight was known about nearly two month's before Lorwyn, when we started testing it. Second, against combo, its not like its "OMG Knight, Ill jst ply it and nevar Looz!!!!!1111!" Say I play an E-plague against Breakfast. The Knight will quickly put that game out of reach before they can solve th enchantement problem. Im not trying to be an elitist, all I'm saying is don't theorize about my choices when I have the testing experience to back them up. I have literally tried every single creature in that slot that is an acceptable replacement. If you can come back to me with results saying, "Oh well I played 50 games with Knight then 50 more with Lynx and the times I drew Lynx were way more game impacting than the times I drew Knight" then fine.
Lastly don't tell me not to claim things. Its the Internet, you type on keyboards. Thats all anybody does is claim. Would you like me to post 50 hours of video footage instead? If you don't like my deck and think your choices are better or whatever, then make your own thread.

[telcontar]

I have tested this deck, or my version of it, for a solid month and I can say that the lynx has been very good for me. I haven't tested the knight, so I can't say the lynx is better, but it is very good.




[Phantom]

Looks like a couple of people have posted GWB aggro decks. For some other ideas check out the thread I posted a while ago:

http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7554

I don't have time for a ton of thoughts, but here's a quick one: Run Mishras over waste. Any deck worth its salt shrugs off a single wasteland with almost no thought and that's your entire mana denial package. Mishra's will NEVER be dead, kills Mongeese, is uncounterable, and gets a Jitte going like a champ.

[TrialByFire]

I don't have time for a ton of thoughts, but here's a quick one: Run Mishras over waste. Any deck worth its salt shrugs off a single wasteland with almost no thought and that's your entire mana denial package. Mishra's will NEVER be dead, kills Mongeese, is uncounterable, and gets a Jitte going like a champ.

That is an interesting idea. Although mana intensive, I might give them a shot. They will prolly improve only the already decent control matchups though. Improving Thresh matchup potentially seems worth it. I will test

[telcontar]

So there hasn't been much activity in this thread recently. I wonder if some of that has to do with the tone of early responses by the original poster. Nevertheless, this is a deck I believe has a place in the metagame and one I've been working on for a while, so I'd like to spark some new discussion.

I tested the full 4 Serra Avenger, and the original poster is right - they're worth every slot. Great on offense and defense, great Jitte carriers, good out of the vial as a surprise blocker, the full package.

I haven't yet tested the Knights of Meadowgrain, although I can see that some more lifegain (beyond Jittes) would be nice to counteract the fetches, thoughtseizes, and confidant self-inflicted damage.

I can't see playing the full 4 wastelands in this 3-color deck. I tried 3 for a while, but it caused me significant color-screw problems and I took them back out. I now have a single colorless land, a Volrath's Stronghold which is itself sometimes a liability. I'm not even sure it's worth it, but it has been golden in a few matchups against decks with permission, especially to get back confidants and sometimes goyfs. I will say again (and this IS based on significant testing, no matter what you might claim) that at least 1 Bayou belongs. I fetch for it all the time, and I can't buy the color consistency argument in a 3-color deck running 4 wastelands - perhaps they're the problem, not the lone Bayou?

I currently have 2 maindeck slots I can't decide on. I've tried explosives, edicts, needles, profane command (I was getting adventurous), mother of runes, etc. I still haven't come to a decision I'm happy with, although I'm leaning towards pithing needle. The deck can have trouble with recurring wastelands or mishra's (there's a LOT of landstill on MWS!), but it's also just a good all round utility card. I also like explosives, but the deck is really heavy in the 2-slot itself and it hampers effective use.

Lastly, I'd like to discuss SB options. Mine is currently:
4 Engineered Plague
4 Duress
4 Extirpate
3 Krosan Grip

I find the deck is a house against aggro-control and mid-range aggro. The only threats I fear from Threshold (for example) are the full SDT-counterbalance 'lock' and threads/control magic/shackles. I already have vindicate (and possibly needle), but grip is great backup for all of those problems.

I find the deck can easily stumble against aggro, especially goblins, as it relies on having answers (e.g. swords, fetchlands to get basics, and durable creatures) to their early threats (lackey, wastes, etc) at the right times. The full 4 plague seem like a must.

It's also weak against combo. Hence the board of duress and extirpate, although against some combo decks the full 15 could conceivably come in. Extirpate could also be Leyline of the Void.

I haven't tried the semi-transformational SB of taking out permanents and bringing in Deeds.

Anyway, I'd love to hear some more discussion on this deck. It's not the most innovative or exciting, but it's a solid performer. It has a great matchup against the current Deck to Beat (Threshold) with solid chances against other relevant decks.

Iain