[Deck] 8Tezz.dec - UB Tezzeret

[Ellomdian]

8Tezz.dec - A Primer in Parts

(Update 7/23/18)

Why is Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas better than Jace, The Mind Sculptor?

Legacy is a format defined by efficient interactions. As the format has matured in recent years, the average cost of business spells (as opposed to trick cards) has steadily decreased to the point where it is hard to argue that Brainstorm is not one of (if not the most) powerful card in the format. Traditionally, when a format values efficiency, proactive disruption strategies become more valuable. A deck that can create a game plan that ignores the symmetry of a negative disruptive effect then poses a powerful answer as long as the environment continues to be conducive to that disruption.

When preparing for GP Denver in October '12, I was trying to find a deck that was both fun to play and powerful enough to justify participating in the event. I love Legacy, and was actively promoting both the format and the event locally. While it's interesting to watch the intricacies of play when a combo deck is trying to go off, or to see what crazy deck “that guy” at your local legacy tournament brought this time, or even to watch skilled players pilot scalpels like RUG Delver, it can be discouraging for players new to the environment to feel like they are at a disadvantage because they do not already know the complexity of the environment. So I needed something that was as fun to watch as it was to pilot. Then I saw Caleb D’s original article on CFB and Deck Tech and thought he was on to something. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas? Turn 2? Karns and Wurmcoils and Solemn in Legacy? And you still get to play JTMS and FOW? I was intrigued, and had an copy proxied when I got home that night.

Tezzeret has seen some fringe play over the past couple of years in Legacy, at first in 2011 with Drew Levin’s and then around 2012 with David Gearhart’s Tezz-Thopter lists. The original shell was a heavy control list complete with the requisite Engineering Explosives, Ensnaring Bridges and acceleration to power out turn two Jaces and Tezzerets . These shells also used SDT MD and Counterbalances out of the board to create another form of control for various matchups. At the heart of both of these lists was the Thopter-Sword combo. Each of these decks performed rather well, both with solid showings.

Adam Prosak in June of 2012 piloted a Tezzeret list and placed 21st running a slightly more aggressive version of the deck. Gone was the Thopter-Sword combo and in went more utility and a more directed plan at making 5/5’s and smashing faces with a Tezz ultimate as backup.

The premise is simple – Legacy is traditionally about chaining efficient plays together. Acceleration is typically left to combo decks who are willing to sacrifice the card quality for early velocity because they are often trying to win on the spot (rendering average quality of cards left in their decks moot.) Mid-range strategies typically rely on early hand disruption to prevent the opponent from moving ahead, but that often results in slim margins of card advantage, with strict rules for the rest of the deck. And control strategies frequently have a problem getting overwhelmed. UBTezz (or my pet name, 8Tezz, discussed below) was originally a midrange control deck with light disruptive elements based around acceleration from City of Traitors, Ancient Tomb, and Talismans. The money-shot plays were Turn 2 Tezzeret or JTMS, and T3/4 wurmcoil or Karn were not unreasonable. The nature of Tezz allowed the deck to run a variety of artifact answers, and find them reliably without traditional tutoring. And Planeswalker combinations were ridiculous – being able to Jacestorm and then Tezz, or visa versa, allows you to see up to 8 cards and often more.

I was excited. The deck was fun to play, fun to watch, and my opponents were often enjoying losing (seriously, who plays Solemn in legacy… Turn 2…) more than they would to AnT or RUG. It was a great showcase deck that attracted new players to watch and see what it was about.

And then someone asked why I was only playing one Chalice of the Void.

Games that I had a Chalice on 1 were awesome. My opponents were often stuck with 4 or 5 cards in their hands they could not cast. Brainstorm was just cold. And the games I pulled it off Turn 1? Just ridiculous. I was playing with 2, testing with 3, quickly decided to try 4. And it just started clicking.

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The Deck Today

From the success of Cincinnati came yet another list brainstormed by Chris Andersen and Chris Vanmeter, this first of which managed Top 8 at SCG Open in Nashville. The deck did a full circle and went back to using the Thopter-Sword combo, optioning for a 2/2 split between them and adding in Transmute Artifacts to help tinker up the needed combo pieces, or in a pinch another piece of utility. Chris Andersen took down the following SCG , and 2 weeks before that he T8’d. His motivating factors to play the deck? It was fun and it was powerful.

I will be discussing my current list, which is [/B]

Maindeck

Creatures (4)
4 Baleful Strix

Planeswalkers (7)
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

Lands (22)
3 Darkslick Shores
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Academy Ruins
1 Seat of the Synod
3 Polluted Delta
3 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Swamp

Spells (27)
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Thopter Foundry
2 Dimir Signet
4 Talisman of Dominance
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Ensnaring Bridge
1 The Abyss
1 Staff of Nin

3 Transmute Artifact
1 Damnation
2 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Force of Will

Sideboard
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Sorcerers Spyglass
2 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Lodestone Golem
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
2 Sun Droplet
2 Misdirection
1 No Mercy

4 Ancient Tomb/3 City of Traitors. Colorless mana is good. Urborg means that Tomb draws don’t straight kill you. 7 Sol Lands gives us a 60% Hyper-geo prob to draw at least one in our opener, with ~%18 of 2 or more

4 Underground Sea / 3 Polluted Delta /3 Darkslick Shores- I really like shore. It dodges choke, it effectively never causes a tempo problem because of the Sol Lands, It is effectively a Sea that can't be fetched. There is argument for the 4th Delta, but you will often run out of Fetch able lands.

4 Talisman of Dominance/2 Dimir Signet- Talismans are more flexible if your lands get a-sploded. This gives us a slightly less than 55% probability of hitting a Rock T1 (Why not run 7, so the odds match the Sols? Because, a hand with a rock without a sol is generally terrible, while a hand with a Sol without a Rock still has reasonably lines.)

1 Seat of the Synod- Tezz grabs it, and when it swing for 5, abrupt decay can't kill it. I don't run more because, in order of importance: Wasteland, Blood Moon, ShatteringSpreeOxidizeSmeltAncientGrudge-every-other-artifact-hate-card-becoming-a-wasteland. (Chris says he would love more, and I will often include a Vault for environments where Damnation maindeck is a priority.)

1 Island/1 Swamp- I like not losing to Wasteland and occasionally (but not as often) Blood Moon.

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth– Making colorless lands tap for B is nice, making Tomb not kill you is nice, making fetches Swamps is nice.

1 Academy Ruins– Getting back any artifact in a deck filled with artifacts is good. Being able to put an artifact on top and then guarantee a tezz hit is great. There are decks that cannot beat an EE every turn.

4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas- He is the heart of this deck. I LOVE people killing JTMS and ignoring this guy. He is a huge card advantage engine, and both of his minus abilities are your best wincons.

3 Jace, The Mind Sculptor- He will brainstorm so many Rocks and Lands to the top of your deck for an express Tezz trip to the bottom. Will generally elicit whimpers and sighs from Control players if stuck T2.

4 Chalice of the Void- T1 Chalice on 1 may well be a stronger play from this deck against much of the field than a T2 walker. Also an almost ideal card to side out against matches it's not fantastic against - that sounds obvious, a card that is either insane or dead makes sideboard construction and strategy much easier.

4 Force of Will- You need a way to interact with fast-combo. It only costs you 4 slots. The biggest downside is that it encourages you to run more blue cards. Great protection for T2 walker hands.

4 Baleful Strix- Draw a card, block something, eat a goyf, be an artifact, be a blue card.

1 Damnation/1 The Abyss– Kill a lot of creatures at once, or grind them out.

1 Ensnaring Bridge– Something to keep in mind: You can fail to find Tezz activations to keep your hand size down. With the rise in Show and Tell strategies cheating Griselbrand into play, and the coming-out party for True Name Nemesis, Ensnaring Bridge has been promoted from role-player to all-star. I've seen decks that run up to 4 main.

2 Sword of the Meek /2 Thopter Foundry– The key combo in this version of the deck. Sac an artifact with sword in the yard (or the sword itself) and when the thopter comes into play, you can return the sword to play. This combo will reliably kill your opponent with a Tezz activation, gives you life, blockers, and even attackers that get in under most bridge game states.

3 Transmute Artifact– Transmute is effectively tinker. You almost always have enough mana to get whatever card you need at the time, and both of your two card combo pieces are artifacts, as are your best answer cards.

2 Thirst for Knowledge– It’s rare that you don’t have an artifact to discard, and it plays off of a Sol land and a Talisman.

1 Staff of Nin- It's often a Transumtable planeswalker. TONS of stuff has 1 toughness.

UBr Tezz

While a number of older Tezz players advocate a more midrange-oriented approach, there are players who enjoy some success with a resource-denial or prison oriented approach based on a Tezz shell. This can be a particularly effective strategy if you have a smaller meta, or if you do not have a lot of denial strategies (RUG/BUG) that people can prepare for.

Undomain played the following to a 5-3 record at DC, and I fully believe it is a Day-2 deck.

1 Academy Ruins
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Mox Diamond
4 Baleful Strix
2 Dimir Signet
2 Sword of the Meek
3 Thopter Foundry
2 Transmute Artifact
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 The Abyss
4 Force of Will

SB:

1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Golgari Charm
3 Toxic Deluge
1 Trinisphere
1 Helm of Obedience
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Lodestone Golem


This version has the option to set up a Crucible-lock with Wastelands, and uses Mox Diamonds to accelerate (which can lead to more explosive starts than the alternative Sol-Rock, at the cost of cards and potential land drops.) This is particularly potent when paired with Lodestone Golem and Trinisphere-like effects.

Helmerator (Zach Dobbin's List from Eternal Weekend '14)

Zach Dobbin T8'd Eternal Weekend '14 with a spicy list featuring 100% less JTMS and Leyline/Helm combo main. Since the meta had shifted towards more graveyard-value oriented strategies (due to the impact of Treasure Cruise) Zach decided to support the 2 card combo with a compliment of Tezzeret, The Seeker's.


4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Tezzeret, the Seeker
4 Baleful Strix
3 Transmute Artifact
4 Force of Will
1 Seat of the Synod
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Helm of Obedience
4 Dimir Signet
1 Trinisphere
2 Thopter Foundry
1 Sword of the Meek
2 Talisman of Dominance
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Academy Ruins
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Darkwater Catacombs
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb to Yawgmoth

SB:

1 Engineered Plague
1 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Toxic Deluge
2 Flusterstorm
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Lodestone Golem
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Batterskull


This type of list (and the Helm combo in general) presents an attractive option with the recent banning of Deathright Shaman making various Graveyard-based strategies more viable.


Sideboard Options

This deck provides a variety of sideboard options, depending on the environment and your playstyle. I feel it’s more appropriate to discuss them in the Matchup Analysis. (General rules like “Engineered Plague is good against Goblins and Elves and occasionally Enchantress” still apply.)

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Gameplans and Matchups

It can be difficult to play this deck at first, because it differentiates itself in legacy with the following idea: The "advantage" this deck gives us in Legacy is the ability to sacrifice T1 velocity to build resources, specifically mana, and also, we can Chalice T1 with little downside. Mulligans should be determined based on the strength of your T1 and T2 plays - if you don't have one, get one!

Rule 1, every match: Chalice on 1 is probably the best turn 1 play. Barring that, Turn 2 Tezzeret (seconded by Jace) is your plan. If you can’t do either, you need to establish a line of play that takes advantage of acceleration if possible. You do not have significant reactive lines of play available outside of Force of Will , and your goal is to establish a game state on board that takes advantage of your mana and card selection.

One of the most convenient plans for victory is -4 on Tezz (it will require +1 at least once) with artifacts under your control = opponent's life total / 2. Many, MANY people will not realize that the ability effectively doubles the drain until it is too late. And one of the fastest ways to build an artifact count is Thopter/Sword.

Another frequent decision is whether to turn an artifact you control into a 5/5 to attack an opponent. It will be dependent on the game state, but keep in mind that generally, turning an artifact into a creature makes it more vulnerable to removal, and allows opponents to interact with it in combat. While making a Talisman an attacking creature can quickly put a game away, be careful when turning other artifacts. Of particular note however, and it’s worth mentioning again – turning an artifact land into a 5/5 will make it immune to a number of removal spells, especially Abrupt Decay.

RUG Delver/Thresh

This deck is ESPECIALLY vulnerable to Chalice on 1. Damnation, Deluge, or Perish if you run them will answer Mongoose and Goyf, but you are vulnerable to wasteland and stifle in many gamestates. Acceleration will allow you to play over cards like Daze and Spell Pierce. Keep in mind that shattering spree and Flusterstorm will be countered by a chalice on 1, but that copies will not, and that Krosan Grip is starting to see more play.

[i]Death and Taxes[i]

This deck typically leads to surprisingly interactive games, depending on the level of disruption in their draw and the nature of your gameplan. Cards like The Abyss have a *TON* of play, and DnT's typical gameplan of Wasting you into oblivion is less effective due to an increased mana count. Max out sweepers and try to get a quick board threat online before they can draw bullet cards.

AnT (Storm Combo)

The most important part of playing against storm combo with Tezz is understanding what your opponent needs in a given situation to go off. Chalice can provide significant disruption, but a chalice on the wrong cost will not only fail to interact meaningfully with an opponent, it will disrupt your plans. Keep in mind that “free” mana (Mox, LED, Petal) costs 0, D Rit, most cantrips, disruption (like duress) and chain of vapor cost 1, and Infernal Tutor and C Rit cost 2. If you want to increase the proactive elements of the deck, cards like Trinisphere and Lodestone golem will decrease the efficiency of rituals and free mana sources. If you prefer more reactive cards, Vendilion Clique and Duress are solid choices.

BUG

BUG has strong card advantage elements coupled with threats and answers. This is a match where 5/5’s can often win the day if you keep Goyf’s size under control with graveyard management. It will often be more
grindy, and being able to Walker early and often is important to maintain card parity against Liliana, Visions, Hymn, and opposing Jaces. There is an interesting argument for the value of The Abyss over Damnation, and this is one of the matchups where it really shines. BUG will usually keep the number of threats on the table low, and the Abyss does not affect your creatures at all. Misdirection is an option in the board because Visions and Hymn can be so swingy, and even Notion Thief is an option.


Topless Miracles

Arguably the deck that folds to chalice almost as badly as RUG, Miracles is making less of an impact these days. This is another matchup that is often won on the back of 5/5 talismans, especially post board if they are prepared for ThopterSword. Lodestones are very strong out of the SB, often in place of Bridges. Be careful of explosive Mentor draws.

Goblins

This can be an extremely difficult Game 1 if you do not have main-deck sweepers. Ratchet Bomb and EE are very slow to kill anything but tokens, and even an early Bridge can be insufficient if you get caught with cards in hand. Baleful Strix and Thopter tokens can't block Piledriver, and Jace can't bounce him. Even Thalia can cause problems, making your spells cost more when you desperately need to be casting them on-curve. Post board, you should be loaded with Sweepers (Damnation and Deluge, EE) and EPlagues (even 1 can cause problems until they get lords online.) You should also bring in all Bridges if you are running board copies. I generally side out the Thopter Combo, as if you can get the game under control, you will likely be winning through a Tezz ult or 2.

Anything with Show And Tell

I still feel that this matchup is this deck’s major weakness. They are often using a similar strategy (sol lands) to make more powerful early plays (show and tell, sneak attack) while sacrificing mid and late game strength (in this matchup.) Disrupting their cantrips with a chalice on 1 can be helpful, and understanding how they plan to win is important. Ensnaring bridge can often play an unexpectedly crucial role preventing an attack. Post board, Pithing-needle-type effects are helpful in preventing Griselbrand from drawing cards or Sneak Attack from working at all, Duress and Clique will disrupt hands that require development, and sometimes many, many, many thopters will give you permanents to sac to Emrakul and blockers to keep you from dying.

Burn

Burn has been problematic since their threat suite has expanded from a pile of bolts into lists that include multiple flame rift effects, Eidelon of the Great Revel, and maindeckable Price of Progress. At this point, if Burn is a strategy you can expect to play against in your meta, I feel that you need to have cards in the board to deal specifically with it. Sun Droplet is very strong against both dedicated burn as well as decks that expect to use burn as reach.


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Conclusion

Why is Tezz better than Jace, and why do I like to call the deck 8Tezz? Everyone knows the inherent power of JTMS – the abilities it offers are universally fantastic in any deck that can tap for 2UU, and if left unanswered for multiple turns, it generates inevitability that wins games. Tezzeret is more subtle, and yet, if unanswered, threatens to win the game in a single turn. He requires more work in design and construction, but the payoff is significant – his card advantage ability is a + and not a 0, and his ultimate is accessible after a single use.

As a board-control deck, the strength of a Turbo-walker strategy is largely dependant on the decks you expect to play against and the amount of time you've practiced. While the deck has wayned in strength recently, I believe the banning of DRS opens up an opportunity in the Meta if RUG-Delver style decks come back with abandon.

</ellomdian> (Special thanks to Memnoch)

History of Deck Lists;

Drew Levin’s Tezz-Thopter List
(continued)

David Gearhart’s Tezz-Thopter AKA “A Shot in the Dark” List

Adam Prosak’s List and Deck Tech

Caleb Durward’s Article and Deck Tech

Chris Vanmeter’s original article on Star City Games and an update for Tezz at GP DC '13.

Zach Dobbin's Helmerator Deck Tech Vid from GP NJ 2014