Andros
12-29-2007, 08:27 PM
GBWU-BlinkRock
Here is the list with card choices explained:
2 Forest
3 Bayou
4 Windswept Heath
2 Tropical Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Scrubland
3 Savannah
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Shriekmaw
4 Eternal Witness
3 Loxodon Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Mulldrifter
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Momentary Blink
Sideboard
1 Pernicious Deed
4 Engineered Plague
4 Thoughtseize
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Smother/Extirpate/Stifle/Duress/Krosan Grip/Engineered Explosives depending on the metagame.
Cardchoices:
The mana: Nine fetchlands make the four-color manabase very stable, and the only colorless land is the Volrath’s stronghold. Speaking of stronghold, it is just awesome and should never be cut. I was pondering with a second one for a while, but having two legendary lands didn’t seem worth it in the end.
The creatures: Tarmogoyf is awesome, and the others are great creatures that happen to have synergy with blink. Mulldrifter is the weakest link, but it ultimately made the cut because it wins games with blink.
The spells: StP and therapy keep you alive in the early game, deed is the reset button and brainstorm adds consistency and card quality. Blink is the closest thing this deck has to an engine.
Cards not included: I have tested a lot of cards, and the most relevant cards not on the list are engineered explosives, exalted angel. venser and corpse dance/shallow grave. I just could not find room for the graveyard recursion cards even though they do have some incredible synergies with the deck, but in the end, they just did not do enough. EE suffered the same fate. Angel had to fight for the same slot as hierarch, and I prefer the elephant. Venser was too hard for the manabase and did not do enough while often being hard to cast.
So what is this thing?
BlinkRock is rockish midrange/control deck, with an added engine card in momentary blink. Blink gives you an incredible mid- and late game against every non-combo deck. It gives you a source of card advantage, while also protecting your creatures (especially tarmogoyf!) from pinpoint removal. Unlike many other engine cards, blink does not force you to run almost any otherwise sub-optimal cards, so the deck can operate much like a normal rock deck even if no blinks are drawn.
How does the deck work?
The best cards of the deck are slow and for that reason the deck spends it early turns playing cheap disruption and answer cards in form of swords, therapy and evoked shriekmaws, or digging for them with brainstorm. When it comes to the midgame, the deck starts rolling. You can force the opponent to answer your multiple threats or sweep the board with deed depending on the game state and matchup. Late game your blink engine comes into play and seals the deal, or helps you to stabilize.
Why should I play this thing?
BlinkRock, like many other rock decks, has the advantage of having almost none really bad matchups. The deck has a fighting chance against the whole format. So if you do not feel like taking a metagame deck or do not want to risk being hated out, this is a deck you might want to consider for a diverse metagame. Compared to other midrange controls, I think the blink really gives you the advantage in many games.
The issues?
BlinkRock has some issues off course, the biggest being the vulnerability of the manabase. Well-timed wasteland or stifle can set the deck back multiple turns, and a bloodmoon will probably send you packing unless you had the opportunity to fetch multiple basics. Fast combo will be tough game one, but the sideboard can get you through a match, but I still would not recommend playing the deck in a TES/Belcher infested meta unless you are willing to commit some extra sideboard space. Ichorid can also be a problem, but testing shows it can be turn into a positive matchup just by committing four slots from the sideboard to leylines.
Playtips?
When playing this deck, you will always have to know your role, when to drop a lot of creatures and go aggro and when to sit on the deed. Also important is naming correctly with therapy, that card can just swing games when correctly named. Remember the interaction with blink and evoke, and that you can dodge removal with blink. Mulligan mana light hands. Basic stuff if you have played with midrange control decks before.
The matchups
(Not finished)
Goblins
They have wasteland and port, and some very fast openings. You still have the tools in deed and tarmogoyf to beat them, but game one it is going to be hard. A lot depends on the die roll as well. Always mulligan if you don’t have a way to deal with lackey, unless you have multiple deeds. Second game is a lot easier with plagues and extra removal if you happen to run them. Try to keep the horde of green men under control until you hit four or five mana, then start dropping hierarchs and shriekmaws and blink them when necessary. I’d probably say that you have a slight advantage, but it’s still close.
Cabal therapy for: lackey (early when on the play), warchief(to slow them down when you have dealt with the lackey, ringleader(endgame).
Threshold
You have many ways to deal with their creatures, and your manacurve is not hit by counterbalance too often. Use blink to win goyf wars against their removal, therapy for counterspells to resolve your bombs. Mongoose is not too much of a problem because you can easily block it with bigger men. Bring in thoughtseize, and if you have it, EE (mainly for dealing with needles pointed at deed). The manadenial builds are a lot tougher to face, so remember to fetch basics. I would say you have a solid advantage.
Cabal therapy for: force of will, counterspell(when wanting to resolve stuff), tarmogoyf(when light on removal), pithing needle(when you have deed in your hand postboard). If they think about their opener a lot, you might want to try and name brainstorm to manascrew them.
More analyses coming when I get to test more and feel like writing, but it is a start. So far, the deck has been performing excellently.
Here is the list with card choices explained:
2 Forest
3 Bayou
4 Windswept Heath
2 Tropical Island
1 Flooded Strand
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Scrubland
3 Savannah
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
3 Shriekmaw
4 Eternal Witness
3 Loxodon Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Mulldrifter
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Momentary Blink
Sideboard
1 Pernicious Deed
4 Engineered Plague
4 Thoughtseize
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Smother/Extirpate/Stifle/Duress/Krosan Grip/Engineered Explosives depending on the metagame.
Cardchoices:
The mana: Nine fetchlands make the four-color manabase very stable, and the only colorless land is the Volrath’s stronghold. Speaking of stronghold, it is just awesome and should never be cut. I was pondering with a second one for a while, but having two legendary lands didn’t seem worth it in the end.
The creatures: Tarmogoyf is awesome, and the others are great creatures that happen to have synergy with blink. Mulldrifter is the weakest link, but it ultimately made the cut because it wins games with blink.
The spells: StP and therapy keep you alive in the early game, deed is the reset button and brainstorm adds consistency and card quality. Blink is the closest thing this deck has to an engine.
Cards not included: I have tested a lot of cards, and the most relevant cards not on the list are engineered explosives, exalted angel. venser and corpse dance/shallow grave. I just could not find room for the graveyard recursion cards even though they do have some incredible synergies with the deck, but in the end, they just did not do enough. EE suffered the same fate. Angel had to fight for the same slot as hierarch, and I prefer the elephant. Venser was too hard for the manabase and did not do enough while often being hard to cast.
So what is this thing?
BlinkRock is rockish midrange/control deck, with an added engine card in momentary blink. Blink gives you an incredible mid- and late game against every non-combo deck. It gives you a source of card advantage, while also protecting your creatures (especially tarmogoyf!) from pinpoint removal. Unlike many other engine cards, blink does not force you to run almost any otherwise sub-optimal cards, so the deck can operate much like a normal rock deck even if no blinks are drawn.
How does the deck work?
The best cards of the deck are slow and for that reason the deck spends it early turns playing cheap disruption and answer cards in form of swords, therapy and evoked shriekmaws, or digging for them with brainstorm. When it comes to the midgame, the deck starts rolling. You can force the opponent to answer your multiple threats or sweep the board with deed depending on the game state and matchup. Late game your blink engine comes into play and seals the deal, or helps you to stabilize.
Why should I play this thing?
BlinkRock, like many other rock decks, has the advantage of having almost none really bad matchups. The deck has a fighting chance against the whole format. So if you do not feel like taking a metagame deck or do not want to risk being hated out, this is a deck you might want to consider for a diverse metagame. Compared to other midrange controls, I think the blink really gives you the advantage in many games.
The issues?
BlinkRock has some issues off course, the biggest being the vulnerability of the manabase. Well-timed wasteland or stifle can set the deck back multiple turns, and a bloodmoon will probably send you packing unless you had the opportunity to fetch multiple basics. Fast combo will be tough game one, but the sideboard can get you through a match, but I still would not recommend playing the deck in a TES/Belcher infested meta unless you are willing to commit some extra sideboard space. Ichorid can also be a problem, but testing shows it can be turn into a positive matchup just by committing four slots from the sideboard to leylines.
Playtips?
When playing this deck, you will always have to know your role, when to drop a lot of creatures and go aggro and when to sit on the deed. Also important is naming correctly with therapy, that card can just swing games when correctly named. Remember the interaction with blink and evoke, and that you can dodge removal with blink. Mulligan mana light hands. Basic stuff if you have played with midrange control decks before.
The matchups
(Not finished)
Goblins
They have wasteland and port, and some very fast openings. You still have the tools in deed and tarmogoyf to beat them, but game one it is going to be hard. A lot depends on the die roll as well. Always mulligan if you don’t have a way to deal with lackey, unless you have multiple deeds. Second game is a lot easier with plagues and extra removal if you happen to run them. Try to keep the horde of green men under control until you hit four or five mana, then start dropping hierarchs and shriekmaws and blink them when necessary. I’d probably say that you have a slight advantage, but it’s still close.
Cabal therapy for: lackey (early when on the play), warchief(to slow them down when you have dealt with the lackey, ringleader(endgame).
Threshold
You have many ways to deal with their creatures, and your manacurve is not hit by counterbalance too often. Use blink to win goyf wars against their removal, therapy for counterspells to resolve your bombs. Mongoose is not too much of a problem because you can easily block it with bigger men. Bring in thoughtseize, and if you have it, EE (mainly for dealing with needles pointed at deed). The manadenial builds are a lot tougher to face, so remember to fetch basics. I would say you have a solid advantage.
Cabal therapy for: force of will, counterspell(when wanting to resolve stuff), tarmogoyf(when light on removal), pithing needle(when you have deed in your hand postboard). If they think about their opener a lot, you might want to try and name brainstorm to manascrew them.
More analyses coming when I get to test more and feel like writing, but it is a start. So far, the deck has been performing excellently.