[Deck] UGB River Rock (formerly Intuition-Thresh)

[Goaswerfraiejen]

Hi all. It's been a while since I updated the Intuition-Thresh thread with the promised new primer, but I'm happy to announce that it's finally here! Yay!

What follows over the next several posts is the entirety of the primer's contents (please note that due to various updates, what is below may no longer be up to date--please click on the PDF for the most recent version) (Note: I'm currently updating the primer, which is also out of date). Because of its sheer size (55 pages single-spaced), I have not taken the time to reproduce the UBB coding in these posts (the PDF still has it all). Accordingly, if you want a more easily legible version of the primer, I encourage you to access or download the PDF from the following link: http://freepdfhosting.com/612dd90a55.pdf

Anyone at all is welcome to use my primer, in part or in whole, for whatever purposes they might like--so long as I am credited where appropriate. This has taken me a monumental amount of work over the last few months (not to mention years), especially since I've been working entirely alone, and I deserve that much at least. So, let's get down to it!



UGB River Rock

© Goaswerfraiejen


First things first: A great many thanks are in order for everyone who helped to make this deck into what it is today. I won’t name you all, but you know who you are, and without people like you to pick this deck up and run with it, there’s not much a guy like me can do.

Finally, thank you for your patience: the many incarnations of this deck and its many primers have all taken a great deal of time to complete, despite the necessity of updates. I can say with certainty, however, that the quality of the primer that follows and the deck that it describes were only improved by the wait.

Also, it’s very long. For your ctrl+f convenience, here are the main headings:

1.) Deck History
2.) Decklist
3.) Deck Description
4.) Card Choices & Notable Exclusions
-The Manabase
-The Creatures
-The Spells
-The Sideboard
-Notable Exclusions
5.) Playing the Deck
-The Basics
-Using Intuition
-Post-Intuition
-The Element of Surprise
-Opening Hands
-Sample Hands and Analysis
-What to take away from these sample hands
-Dealing with Hate
6.) Matchup Analysis
7.) Results
-Goaswerfraiejen
-Breathweapon
-Alex Mack
-Michael Redford
-Anonymous
8.) Developmental Opportunities/Customizability
9.) Conclusion


1.) Deck History
We should begin by noting that Hanni has been working on a very similar deck concept since 2006 under the name of Aggro Dredge-A-Tog (DAT). Back then, he ran Wild Mongrel rather than Tarmogoyf (since it hadn’t yet been printed); it acted as a solid deterrent (trumping Werebears, particularly if you pitched Genesis/Wonder), and worked well with the excess lands generated by Loam. Obviously, by today’s standards, Mongrel is far less interesting, although my own early attempts made adequate use of the card. Since then, however, the deck has undertaken a fundamentally different direction that makes Mongrel a little less desirable.

Hanni’s deck also contained cantrips, countermagic/discard, and, most importantly, Intuition. Loam/Coliseum and Genesis/Wonder were also present, as well as Pernicious Deed. The basic concept was an aggro-control shell like Threshold’s combined with a strong element of (board) control like Landstill. Hanni has always been a huge fan of that sort of hybridization, and he and I both agreed that, at the time, it represented the obvious evolution of the format. The deck was shelved for quite some time due to rocky piloting, lack of a following, and the development of UWb Fish. And then, all of a sudden, Tarmogoyf was printed.
Fast-forward to 2009, and the strong preponderance of decks like Natural Order Rock, Hexmage Depths, and Dreadstill--not to mention the current evolution of Threshold into counter-top control--largely validate that hypothesis. This deck was originally built to take advantage of that hybridization by internalizing many of the same principles in an attempt to exploit the weaknesses that hybridization generated in other decks, notably Threshold.

When Tarmogoyf was printed in April 2007, I quickly thought to make use of him in UGb Threshold [http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=5534] (which was virtually nonexistent at the time), and began working on developing that concept. It quickly became apparent, however, that I was opting for a rather different direction from everyone else who was trying to develop UGb Threshold, so I created a new thread for the deck. If you want to trace the evolution of the deck, the links are available in this same section in the last thread [http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...d.php?t=11638]. From there, you’ll also be pointed to the thread before [http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...d.php?t=11638], and the one before that [http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=6230]. I anticipate keeping the current thread for some time, and will update the decklist in the original post when time permits.

Anyway, at that point, Hanni thought to revive Aggro DAT and so he started plugging into the new thread. From there, I eventually took up sole responsibility for evolving the deck as new cards (viz. Noble Hierarch, Maelstrom Pulse, etc.) were printed, and then again following the post-Mystical Tutor-ban format shift. Once again, the deck has gone through significant developmental changes since the start of even that last thread, and so the need for a new primer has once more become pressing.

You will find, at the end of this primer, a short list of T8 performances by this deck, its previous incarnations, or decks that sufficiently resemble it or its previous incarnations. You’ll notice that these T8s are largely out of date, and that there aren’t many of them. There’s a good reason for this: the deck is expensive to build, tricky to play, and still (despite our best efforts) unknown. As far as I am aware, I am currently pretty much the only person playing it regularly, and unfortunately I have spent the last several years in cities without regular Legacy tournaments. As I begin my PhD, I’m moving to Montréal, which has a regular scene: the hope is that I will be able to start racking up more tournament experience for the deck, work permitting.

Since I myself am completely unknown in the Magic world, in the past we relied on Hanni’s “star power” to attract a few players. Unfortunately, that strategy appears to have failed: after all, both he and I lack the credibility of players like players like the Hatfields, David Gearhart, and so on. Accordingly, it has proven difficult to garner the kind of attention that I feel the deck deserves. This deck has never really taken off in serious numbers, which is upsetting. The last few years have seen a number of Intuition/Loam decks pop up, but they have tended to lack focus and development. This thread, then, hopes to prove a comprehensive resource for just such development.

Some time ago, David Gearhart designed a deck called “It’s the Fear” (ITF) [http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=9724]), an excellent control deck that once shared a number of similarities with (former versions of) UGB River Rock. ITF is built further down the spectrum towards control, acting more like Landstill, but still incorporates a few Threshold elements. Today, however, River Rock differs from ITF in a number of significant respects. Indeed, while ITF’s popularity seems to have waned in the face of increased metagame hybridization, River Rock seems well-placed to snatch up its mantle as the mid-range deck of choice.

Regardless, it is difficult to understand why this deck hasn’t been given much attention at all over the last few years. As a precursor to ITF, the two decks were so similar that they could have been siblings. Today, while radically different from just about anything else that might hop around the format, the deck remains lost and lonely, relegated to the sidelines: a puzzling situation. Hopefully this primer can change that a little.



2.) Decklist

Lands (18)

3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Tropical Island
3 Bayou
2 Underground Sea
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
1 Wasteland


Creatures (15)

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Eternal Witness
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shriekmaw or Fleshbag Marauder
1 Progenitus


Spells (29)

4 Abrupt Decay
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Spell Pierce
3 Intuition
3 Natural Order
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Daze
1 Unearth
1 Life from the Loam


Sideboard (15)

4 Chalice of the Void
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Pithing Needle
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Faerie Macabre


Yes, that’s 61 cards. Tough luck. The disadvantages are minimal, given the amount of manipulation available, and the advantages are tremendous. Feel free to cut something, but I don’t think the deck will be any better off for it.

Here is a link to the deckstats.net entry, which also has a handy MWS/other tool to export the decklist: [http://deckstats.net/deck-1457755-65...fb28735e.html] (note: Abrupt Decay is not yet included in their database. I'll update this link once it is.)


3.) Deck Description

Originally, this deck tended to play itself out much like UGb Threshold did, what with its creature and cantrip bases and its counter suite. Since that time, however, UGb Threshold has evolved significantly, and now thrives primarily by denying resources to its opponents thanks to early tempo generated by cards like Stifle, Wasteland, Dark Confidant, Counterbalance, Daze, etc. The result has been an aggro-control deck that hopes to control the very first steps of the game, in an effort to render its threats unstoppable. As you can tell from the decklist above, UGB River Rock can no longer realistically masquerade as straight-up Threshold, although many similarities remain. At present, the deck looks and operates much more like a Counterspell-enabled Rock deck.

Thinking of it as The Rock is a good way to start, and helps a great deal to familiarize yourself with the deck. There are just three main areas of divergence that need to be kept in mind: 1.) A (admittedly limited) counterspell suite, 2.) The presence of Intuition as an important engine, and 3.) The Natural Order/Progenitus combo (which a few Rock decks still favour). Hence the name: River Rock (i.e. The Rock with a blue splash). Alternately, you could think of it as a (partly) tempo-based Rock deck.

When Hanni and I were developing earlier versions of the deck, we shared a common gripe against counter-top (and by no means are we saying that the counter-top lock isn’t extremely good): it usually can’t bring you back when you’re behind. As such, it leaves the deck in a reactive limbo, with minimal options against resolved threats (Swords to Plowshares, other creatures) and a deep reliance on a reactive (counterspell-based) engine. Accordingly, we opted to move towards a more pro-active solution that can bring you back from a bad position: Pernicious Deed.

Since then, however, the Legacy metagame has changed a great deal. It has become necessary, in my opinion, to go on the offensive with the Natural Order combo, while making full use of the freedom afforded by Abrupt Decay, Daze, and a critical mass of recursion.

So that’s what I have done: in a nutshell, this deck strives for versatility and redundancy: Eternal Witness, Unearth, and Volrath’s Stronghold provide a solid mid-to-late-game base of recursion that can be exploited to throw out Progenitus, or simply to overrun the opponent. Similarly, with eight sources of removal and nine counterspells (along with ways to recur them all), removal doesn’t get much more redundant in Legacy: this is a lesson that I learned from The Rock, and it has served me well so far. The idea is that with efficient threats on the board, the threat of a devastating combo, and a critical mass of removal, the deck should be able to overpower the creature-based strategies that dominate Legacy and present a significant threat to control. This was especially true for aggro-control decks like New Horizons or CounterTop, which minimized their real threat count in order to maximize their control elements. Today, the same might be said of Blade and Miracle Control decks. The downside, of course, is that against decks that don’t rely on creatures to win (e.g. combo), you have six cards that won’t do much except perhaps (if you’re lucky) slow their artifact-based mana development.

Before I say any more about the intricacies of this deck, I’d like to mention that it is possible to run Pernicious Deed rather than the Natural Order combo. This is a particularly effective strategy against Zoo, but I think that many of the same advantages can be derived from the Natural Order combo simply by reducing the need for non-Progenitus creatures to attack, thereby allowing us to focus on developing a defensive wall and setting up the combo.

With Intuition, Loam, recursion, and Natural Order, the deck can easily shift from playing an aggro/control gameplan to a control gameplan, and vice-versa. While our aggro element won’t compete with tribal decks, our ability to control the game is roughly comparable to (if not as extensive as) straight-up control decks. We have the ability keep the board clean fairly early on thanks to free removal, counterspells, and recursion. For pesky Planeswalkers, creatures (especially Tombstalker), or anything else, we have easy access to Maelstrom Pulse and Abrupt Decay or to our own bomb, Progenitus. We also have the ability to recur powerful tools to gain control over the game, which is set up (most of the time) by Intuition. Life from the Loam ensures that the deck can make land drops every turn in the mid- and late-games, and usually does so by providing card-advantage thanks to Dredge (cards in the graveyard are, in fact, recursion targets), and our ability to capitalize on the graveyard. Loam/Wasteland/Witness locks can occasionally end games (though they tend to function more as pinpoint utility tools), and Eternal Witness and Unearth are a great source of card advantage, giving the deck recurring beaters and removal (with Shriekmaw or Fleshbag Marauder). Gigapede is an alternate win condition that can recur itself and is almost impossible to answer, although it hasn't made the cut these last couple years.

The most common Intuition pile is usually based around Life from the Loam or Eternal Witness, or acquiring a necessary element to affect the game-state (e.g. 3x of a creature, removal spell, or Natural Order, etc.). Usually, my first piles look something like Witness/Witness/Unearth, Loam/Wasteland/Fetchland, Loam/Wasteland/Stronghold, or Loam/Stronghold/Shriekmaw (or Marauder), unless I’m going for a 3x-pile. These piles set you up for the later stages of the game by increasing your mana pile, stocking your graveyard, and getting you in position to start your recursion engines. I’ll discuss Intuition piles later, but they’re obviously going to be extremely dependent on the current game state. The second Intuition that you cast, should you have the opportunity to do so (or need to), should either grab remaining toolbox cards that can be used in conjunction with recursion, such as Shriekmaw (in other words, whatever is not currently available), or the Natural Order combo.

Playing so many spells with a casting cost of three or more generally pushes this deck out of consistent Counterbalance range, at least until the late-game. Handily, Abrupt Decay destroys Counterbalance every time if it's looking dangerous. As far as Threshold variants are concerned, our removal represents a serious threat to their already meagre resources, which will already be sorely taxed dealing with our combo element.

This deck has an insane amount of internal synergy. It can mould itself to almost any situation and has the tools, between the main deck and the sideboard, to answer just about any situation. Its fast Rock-esque gameplan gives it the speed to keep up with (and disrupt) fast decks. Its slow and controlling gameplan gives it the ability to box-in and out-advantage slower aggro decks, other aggro/control decks, and even other control decks, and allows the deck to transition very smoothly from the early to the late game. This hybridization allows it to switch roles when necessary to unbalance the opponent and dominate the game.

Finally, unlike ITF, I have chosen not to splash white as a fourth colour for Swords to Plowshares because I don’t feel that bastardizing the manabase is worth it at all, especially considering that Shriekmaw (or Marauder) and Abrupt Decay are the superior (and entirely adequate) removal options for this deck.


NOTE:

Originally posted in a rulings article on MTGSalvation:
Q: There are currently lands, creatures, and sorceries in both players' graveyards, so my Tarmogoyf is 3/4. What happens when it gets targeted by Sudden Death?

A: You will have one fairly lethargic, but living, Tarmogoyf.

State-based effects—those wonderful bits of rules that do things like cause you to lose the game, clean up Auras that are no longer attached to anything, and destroy creatures with lethal damage—also whisk away creatures with 0 toughness to the appropriate graveyard. However, SBEs aren't checked during the resolution of a spell or ability, but instead wait until after they've completely finished resolving and a player would gain priority again.

The last part of a spell's resolution is putting it into its owner's graveyard. Tarmogoyf is constantly rummaging around in people's graveyards trying to figure out how powerful it is (good thing it has eight fingers, otherwise it might have trouble with that). So by the time state-based effects are checked, the Sudden Death is already in its owner's graveyard and the Tarmogoyf has already gotten the go-ahead to pump itself up. The end result will be a 0/1 Tarmogoyf until the cleanup step, at which time it becomes a 4/5 again.

I can guarantee that such situations will come up, and they can really decide the game. Even though Tarmogoyf has been in print for years, not everyone is entirely familiar with it yet.



4.) Card Choices & Notable Exclusions


The Manabase

With the advent of Zendikar, the fetchland options appropriate for this deck have expanded greatly. I used to run 4x Polluted Delta and 2x Windswept Heath (because Hierarch nets basic green and blue mana, and black is essential for our removal, but harder to obtain), and that configuration is excellent. The enemy fetches open up slightly more stable options, however, and so at the very least I recommend switching from Heath to Misty Rainforest. The choice between Polluted Delta and Verdant Catacombs, on the other hand, is pretty much a moot point since either option grants access to the same number of lands. Personally, I prefer guaranteed access to green (basic Forests!), and so opt for Verdant Catacombs.

Eighteen lands seems like the perfect number in testing for this deck’s curve: Loam enables the deck to consistently hit land drops after the third turn once the engines are online, and Noble Hierarch goes a long way towards providing speed and stability.

Wasteland is in here for two purposes alone: targeted assaults on recursion engines (Academy Ruins, Volrath’s Stronghold, etc.) and manlands (Mishra’s Factory, Mutavault, etc.), and for the occasional game-breaking Waste-lock. Waste-locks are (obviously) especially strong against multi-coloured decks or bad starts, but they’re hard to set up if you can’t cast Intuition early in the game.

Volrath’s Stronghold: In older versions of the deck, Stronghold complemented Genesis (the superior recursion engine, since it didn’t eat a draw). For the present deck, however, the relative safety from graveyard hate is a little more important, especially since most of the setup required for Genesis has been eliminated. Stronghold at least provides a measure of redundancy for our aggression and removal, and a measure of immunity from graveyard hate (along with ease of fetching with Intuition and Life from the Loam).


The Creatures

Tarmogoyf: This is the core aggro package and it functions the same as it would in a normal Threshold or Rock deck. It improves the early game by allowing the deck to be aggressive against some decks (like combo) and defensive against other decks (like fast aggro). Since so many other decks run Tarmogoyf, removal is an essential complement. Later on, Tarmogoyf’s low casting cost works very well with Genesis recursion.

Noble Hierarch: This little guy is your primary mana fixer, and it generates an important amount of speed for the deck, allowing you to capitalize upon your tempo boosters. Exalted makes Goyf much more threatening, especially versus other Goyfs, and its effect is not lost upon Kitchen Finks, Gigapede, or Shriekmaw. Finally, in a pinch, it can power out Natural Order on its own. Although it’s not a great beater, this drawback is miniscule given the amount of work that it does for the deck. Hierarch is truly part of the deck’s backbone.

Eternal Witness: Along with Kitchen Finks, Witness has essentially become the deck’s secondary beater. This is an odd situation, to say the least, but it makes sense given the broader context of the deck’s aims. After all, Witness provides us with important recursion, either of threats (like Tarmogoyf) or lost Natural Orders. It’s easy to pitch to Natural Order (no big loss), a half-decent threat with Exalted, and creates a nasty chain of recursion with Unearth (making it a desirable Intuition target, since you can fetch it out and recur your way to a Natural Order with Life from the Loam and cantrips). The main reason to run Witness is to increase redundancy. Speaking of which, recurring cantrips is one of the best uses to which you can put Witness, so don’t be shy to do it.

Scavenging Ooze: These slots used to be reserved for Kitchen Finks, but since its printing Ooze has simply proven far too powerful in the Legacy metagame not to include a copy. While the Finks are better overall when it comes to lifegain (given the inclusion of Natural Order and Unearth), the Ooze is a more significant threat and has more utility. I haven not tried splitting the slot with Finks, however, which might be an option. Or, you know... cutting something else for the lovely Ouphe. In any case, the Ooze is just amazing.

Progenitus: Fetchable with Natural Order, or pitchable to Force of Will. That leaves it relatively dead outside those contexts, but its raw power makes it an ideal finisher that vastly improves our win percentages.

Shriekmaw: Phenomenal removal. 2cc is the same as other typical black removal: it removes Goyfs (which is the biggest target for the removal), and (like Snuff Out) almost always powers through an opposing Counterbalance. The main reason to run at least one Shriekmaw is the ability to recur it with Stronghold, wiping out an opponent’s army step by step. This is, in fact, the main reason to run Shriekmaw. In this way, Shriekmaw can be a source of card-advantage similar to Flametongue Kavu in its heyday: for five mana, you destroy an opponent’s creature and (perhaps) get a 3/2 with evasion. The only creatures that Shriekmaw cannot answer are black and artifact creatures, and this deck seldom needs to worry much about those because it also has Maelstrom Pulse, Snuff Out (for artifacts), and Natural Order (as a proactive threat). For those made squeamish by a metagame in which Shriekmaw is less effective (e.g. one filled with Tombstalker, Progenitus, Phyrexian Dreadnought, Ichorid, and Reanimator), the best replacement is Fleshbag Marauder (bonus: Unearth recursion target). Triple black is too much to ask from the deck, so give up on Gatekeeper of Malakir. Against an aggro-heavy metagame, however, Shriekmaw’s targeting is more useful than Marauder’s sacrifice effect.


The Spells

Brainstorm: Cantrips give the deck increased consistency, whether it be early mana stabilization, digging for relevant cards (like Intuition), or fuelling the Threshold gameplan (cards in the graveyard, filtering useless cards for useful ones). They also allow us to shuffle away Progenitus if need be. There is absolutely no reason not to run them in here. Additional cantrips are unnecessary because Intuition + engines + Eternal Witness take their place. Brainstorm is worth keeping until later in the game, when you either need the draw power or need to put a Natural Order target back into your library. On that topic, it might be worth reading (if you haven’t already) A.J. Sacher’s article on using Brainstorm, “Pondering Brainstorm” [http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/l...ainstorm.html]. Opening hands without Noble Hierarch are safest when they cast Ponder to find land-drops. If you must choose between Brainstorm and Ponder to feed a Force of Will, save the Ponder.

Intuition: The core of the deck outside of the Rock gameplan, Intuition enables the deck’s engines to come online, allowing the player to either pursue a more aggressive gameplan or shift into control mode. It enables consistent land drops via Loam, card-advantage via Eternal Witness and Unearth, fetches our combo finish, and so on. Essentially, it provides a quick response to just about any situation. For more on Intuition piles, please refer to the appropriate section below.

Natural Order: Sets up a combo finish for the deck that is extremely difficult to deal with (Progenitus). Very often, Natural Order acts in much the same way that Deed did (only more pro-actively, and thus better), allowing us to pull out a surprise win or to overpower a rogue deck. I'm not above using Order to fetch a Witness, which can be an extremely powerful move. ‘Nuff said, I think.

Life from the Loam: Another of the deck’s engines, albeit a secondary one. It enables consistent land drops every turn whilst creating card-advantage (since the deck uses the graveyard as a toolbox as much as anything else). The ability to recur Wasteland is nasty against some decks. There is no reason to not run Loam (as a 1-of) in a deck running Intuition. It is only needed as a 1-of in this deck because spare slots are hard to come by, and because it’s really more of a control/control-enabling option, rather than a manafixing necessity.

Force of Will: Obvious. No further comments necessary.

Daze: Since this is an aggro/control deck rather than slower control, Daze is a lot better for us than Counterspell. The deck needs the nine counterspells in order to dominate the early game, and to have a chance of competing against storm combo. With Hierarch’s inclusion in the deck, Daze becomes a true tempo card, rather than an iffy potential loss of momentum. If you win your first game, however, it’s often worth considering whether Pernicious Deed might not ultimately be more helpful in the coming game than Daze. After all, your opponent will be playing around Daze, so you’d do well to keep him/her baited and off-kilter. At the moment we're down to two Daze to enable us to run four Abrupt Decay.

Abrupt Decay: This new card is incredibly useful in the context of this deck. We no longer need to be hostage to Snuff Out's life loss, which makes an important difference. There is no colour restriction, which is great, and the casting-cost restriction is not such a big deal since we also have access to Maelstrom Pulse. Most importantly, uncounterability means that it's absolutely consistent removal, and it's not limited to creatures! With Eternal Witness and our other recursion elements, Abrupt Decay is insanely powerful for us.

Maelstrom Pulse: Maelstrom Pulse fulfills a necessary niche in this deck. While essentially a (creature-) removal option, it gives us a powerful, targeted answer to Planeswalkers, enchantments, artifacts, and tokens. This makes Pulse a truly versatile spell: it can act as extra removal if you need it, or as a targeted Deed. Of equal importance, however, is the fact that its versatility largely replaces Krosan Grip, and so frees up a number of slots in the sideboard.

Unearth: An important source of card advantage, especially when coupled with Eternal Witness or fetched with Intuition. Unearth complements most aspects of the deck, warranting its inclusion as a one-of. And if it should be rendered useless (e.g. by a Chalice set at one), it can just be cycled. While it might look out of place at first glance, it’s a real all-star and should not be dismissed. Remember that you can use it to reanimate a Witness and then return it to your hand with that same Witness; rinse and repeat, and you’ve just severely frustrated your opponent. Alternately, use it in conjunction with Witness to ensure that you can cast Natural Order at some point. Don’t leave home without it, but don’t go over one copy: we need the slots for other things, and don’t want to become overly reliant on the graveyard. The more ineffective our opponents’ sideboarding choices, the better.

Spell Pierce: I use this primarily to help foil combo, although it’s obviously useful elsewhere as well (Burn is a common target, as are enemy Planeswalkers).


The Sideboard

Before I begin with the sideboard, I’d like to say that this is my own personal sideboard and that ideal sideboards are going to differ based on the player and the metagame. There are no fixed slots here.

One option that I have not yet explored, but which may well be of interest, is a transformational sideboard that would allow us to swap out the Natural Order combo in favour of something else. Just what that would be, however, I’m not sure. Any and all suggestions would be welcome.

Faerie Macabre: Faerie's instant speed makes it a powerful resource. Relic of Progenitus would be a better overall control element, but it also messes with our own strategy and is more vulnerable to our own Chalices of the Void, opposing Chalices (especially versus Aggro-Loam and Lands), and to Counterbalance (in ITF, Threshold, CounterTop, and other Counterbalance-based randomness). These cards do everything that you might expect them to do, and play well with Eternal Witness and Volrath's Stronghold (and thus also with Intuition). Coupled with Grafdigger's Cage, it's plenty.

Grafdigger's Cage: Another excellent tool against graveyard-based decks that has a minimal effect on our own deck (obviously, it doesn't complement Natural Order, but that's it). If you don't have the card or don't want to run it, I'd recommend more Faerie Macabre and perhaps Tormod's Crypt.

Chalice of the Void: I decided to dedicate this slot to hating out combo, and Chalice is a multi-purpose tool that cleaves tight to the tempo theme and hurts combo, all while shoring up the Burn and Zoo matchups. Tension with the Hydroblast/BEB slots in these matchups have left me favouring Chalice over them simply due to a wider range of application. It also shuts down red-splash Tempo-Thresh.

Pernicious Deed: In this deck, Deed’s power level is increased with the inclusion of Volrath’s Stronghold, Eternal Witness, and Unearth, which grant you sickening inevitability. Pernicious Deed itself is easily one of the strongest cards in the format: that much goes without saying. As mentioned before, it can easily bring the game back from behind, particularly in conjunction with recursion. The ability to answer basically everything after it’s already resolved (proactively rather than reactively—counterspells are great, but you have to have them in your hand at the appropriate time, making them much more conditional) is nutty, and the ability to come back from behind by wiping the board clear is very powerful. The fact that this deck can wipe the board clean with Deed and then recur creatures immediately makes for amazing synergy, and terrifying inevitability.


Notable Exclusions:

Academy Ruins: Too cutesy and win-more. Mana issues also make it a prohibitive choice.

Lonely Sandbar/cycling lands: Not useful enough. Besides which, they create mana problems. If you were to run Terravore, you might want a few—but again, they create havoc with the mana in your opening hand(s). If I wanted to mimic their use, I’d rather go with Cephalid Coliseum.

Counterbalance: Different gameplan altogether.

Dark Confidant: It’s a virtually useless beater, and we already have good sources of card advantage. Plus, with mana costs ranging from three to ten, on top of Snuff Out, Force of Will, Mental Misstep, and given fetchlands, the life loss would just be too significant.

Darkblast: A fantastic card that preys on NO RUG’s weenie base (as well as Memnite/Pest Affinity and many others). For my local meta, I sometimes sideboard two of these puppies, and they’re fantastic. One day I might find room for a singleton in the main deck.

Diabolic Edict: I once dedicated three sideboard slots to another form of combo-hate: hating out the Progenitus and Hexmage combos, which can be difficult to deal with. There was an added advantage in that Edict could come in to replace Snuff Out against decks with primarily black threats. Accordingly, Edict’s wide range of application warranted its inclusion, the only hiccup being that it has a harder time dodging Counterbalance and Spell Snare. Now that I run the Progenitus combo myself, however, I think that these slots are best used for other cards.

Dryad Arbor: I’m not against having a singleton maindeck, but the trouble I’ve had with it in the past is that it screws up my mana development more often than I wish I could fetch it with a fetchland.

Empyrial Archangel: Metagame considerations might warrant its inclusion in the sideboard, but at the moment I don't see the need for it.

Engineered Explosives: Complements Deed and can be used to destroy Planeswalkers (with Hierarch) if need be. It’s also slightly faster than Deed, especially against Zoo, which is helpful. And hey, Tarmogoyfs are bigger because of it. Currently, I’m sticking to Deed (in the SB) because its value against Affinity is just so hard to overstate.

Engineered Plague: A year ago, with the growing popularity of tribal decks (Goblins, Merfolk, Elves, Combo-Elves, Progenitus-Elves, Survival-Elves), Plague was a good sideboard card. We could cast it on turn two thanks to Noble Hierarch, and that was a huge boon. A single Plague won’t solve all of your tribal problems, however, since all of the above decks still play a large number of lords, but it makes your removal that much more effective. Target lords with Snuff Out and Pulse, and the opponent is left with a large number of dead cards in his or her hand, as well as in the deck, waiting to be drawn. I no longer run it simply because the shifting format seems to favour Deed and EE at the moment, and because the Natural Order combo helps to give me a little less to worry about.

Gatekeeper of Malakir: Triple-black makes this too difficult to play in this deck. Also, the fact that it doesn’t sacrifice itself makes it very difficult to recur. If you’re looking for a sacrificing-type of recurrable removal, use Fleshbag Marauder instead.

Genesis: The core recursion card used by former versions of the deck. Once in the graveyard, it provides card-advantage every turn and allows the deck to do nasty things. It makes Deed that much stronger and the board advantage that it creates after just several turns is huge. Genesis recursion is extremely hard for many decks to answer game one. In this deck, I feel that the card advantage (and ability to hardcast it past a Counterbalance) combine to make Genesis a superior option (for us) to Volrath’s Stronghold. I no longer run it because I’ve dismantled its enablers in order to run the Natural Order combo, which has a bigger impact in most contemporary matchups.

Gigapede: This guy acts as a finisher in the same way that Mystic Enforcer (or Tombstalker) did in Threshold, but is only needed as a one-of because of Intuition. Gigapede is nearly impossible to answer, and therein lies its value: it recurs itself, can be used to discard Genesis or Wonder, is untargetable, cannot be blown up by EE (unless the opponent has access to all 5 colours), is really high up for Deed and Counterbalance range, and is large at 6/1 (usually trades with Goyfs). Yes, it can be chump-blocked by Mogg Fanatic--that criticism has been made before, but is, in fact, irrelevant. Fanatic is, at best, a one-turn solution, not really any better than throwing another body in front of Gigapede. With exalted or Wonder, the point becomes even less relevant. Barring a large number of chump blockers, Gigapede’s recursion means that it will eventually punch through. Gigapede almost always powers through Counterbalance (Force of Will and Shriekmaw are the only 5cc cards that I can think of that might see play in decks with Counterbalance), and these characteristics combine to make it strong against other control decks as well. Gigapede is an all-star, and there is truly no good reason not to run it—except that there’s no longer any room, and Natural Order is a more useful toolset now than Gigapede. *sniff*

Hydroblast/Blue Elemental Blast significantly improves the Goblins, Dragon Stompy, Burn, and Zoo matchups, and that is a bonus that can’t be ignored. The fact that it doubles as removal means that you can load up on creature removal post-board, and yet still have the ability to consistently counter non-creature threats. The ability to also hit decks like TES and Belcher is just an additional bonus. I split the three slots between the two just to avoid traps generated by cards like Meddling Mage and Cabal Therapy. I no longer run it because it conflicts directly with Chalice of the Void (i.e. it comes in for most of the same matches), and Chalice is simply more useful and more versatile.

Kitchen Finks: After a great deal of testing, I have decided that Finks is one of the best options for the secondary beater’s slot, and a fantastic replacement for Scavenging Ooze if necessary. It’s an excellent threat--especially when exalted--and its persistence makes it difficult to deal with and an excellent complement to Natural Order. The life-gain is likewise of importance since it helps to negate the reach of burn spells. I am actually happier dropping Kitchen Finks on turn two (with Hierarch) than I am with playing Tarmogoyf on turn two, since Finks swings for more initially, regenerates itself once, and generates a significant early gap in life totals. In this way, the Finks usually eat a removal spell that would otherwise be directed at Tarmogoyf. Indeed, the primary reason to run Finks is precisely the significant impact that it has on the board if you can pop it out in the early game. Should you lack Kitchen Finks or prefer not to run them, I believe that the best replacements would be River Boa or Golgari Brownscale, although both have their downsides.

Krosan Grip: Like Thrun, this is very helpful in some metagames. While it didn’t make the cut for the more generic sideboard above, that’s not a reason not to run it in your own metagame. At the moment, however, Abrupt Decay's presence makes it much less necessary.

Psychatog: Great card in older versions of the deck, but the other creatures in here are already threatening enough on their own. Besides which, Psychatog requires a large commitment to swing for the win: swinging for a piddly one doesn’t cut it. This would set us up for a truly devastating 2 (or more)-for-1. Besides, it lacks synergy with Tarmogoyf, [Gigapede, Genesis,] and Stronghold, and creates a vulnerability with respect to graveyard hate that doesn’t currently exist.

Raven’s Crime: Raven’s Crime was once in the deck largely because it makes for a strong Intuition pile against control (Loam/Wasteland/Raven’s Crime), and because it’s a stronger disruption option than Thoughtseize in the late game (in large part due to its recursion). Unfortunately, Loam/Crime locks are too slow and useless against today’s control decks, which feature Jace, The Mind Sculptor and other Planeswalkers all too prominently.

Snuff Out: Easily black’s best removal spell, Snuff Out deals handily with almost anything and is as close to Counterbalance-proof as you will ever get. Its alternate cost, while steep, is worth it, since it guarantees a gigantic tempo boost for the deck. There is nothing quite like tapping out to cast your beaters, and then springing a nasty surprise on your opponent. The printing of Abrupt Decay renders Snuff Out obsolete in this context, however.

Terravore: A great card, I’ve often thought that it could find a home as the deck’s secondary threat. Indeed, it’s quite good in that role--except that it’s extremely vulnerable to graveyard hate (which is currently largely ineffective against the deck), and the other creatures are too important to cut. It's still very tempting to include a singleton.

Thoughtseize: Thoughtseize is extremely strong at what it does. 1cc proactive spot removal for any non-land card is obviously extremely efficient: it answers anything problematic from Tarmogoyf to Humility. The ability to see the opponent’s hand is invaluable, especially in a large tournament setting. The -2 life loss, however, was sufficient to deter me from its use in earlier versions, which already lost a lot of life to fetches, FoW, and Snuff Out. Today, I think that Thoughtseize doesn't quite complement the way the deck strives to spend its first few turns (namely, ramping into Natural Order), although it would certainly offer added protection. I may well return to it in the sideboard, however, given how hard a time I have with Show and Tell. There, proactive disruption would probably be more useful than our reactive disruption. On that note, Cabal Therapy is also worth remembering.

, and to opt instead for a strong beater with more synergy with the rest of the deck (Kitchen Finks, which then became Scavenging Ooze). When coupled with the life lost from fetches, FoW, and Snuff Out, Thoughtseize leaves you very little room to manoeuvre. If you’re planning on running it, run a maximum of three and use Raven’s Crime to fill out the fourth, since Thoughtseize is more or less useless in the late-game. Better yet, run Cabal Therapy and Raven’s Crime.

Thrun, the Last Troll: There’s no room for it in the deck’s current configuration.

Tombstalker: This is one of the most controversial absences in my deck, especially given Breathweapon’s recent(ish) success with a list that included it. It might be worth running a few of these, but the creatures are threatening enough as is. Casting Tombstalker is going to be relatively difficult, considering that we don’t run nearly as much tempo or as many cantrips as Team America [http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...d.php?t=11605]. For the moment and from my (admittedly minimal) testing, Team America puts Tombstalker to better use: it gets it out faster, allowing it to have a much greater impact on the board, and its shell makes it much more difficult to neutralise. Besides, now we have Progenitus and Empyrial Archangel.

Wonder: Gives the deck flying, which can be invaluable in many matchups (notably against control). Wonder easily breaks things like Goyf stalemates, and gets Gigapede over chump-blockers like Mogg Fanatic. Better yet, it gives you a means of playing around Humility and Moat, a means of answering decks that play a large number of flying creatures (which are otherwise unblockable). Without any free slots, however, I can’t find a way to include it any longer. Poopsicles!

Worm Harvest: This card is primarily a foil against Humility, which can otherwise prove slightly troublesome. Metagame considerations might warrant its inclusion in the sideboard, especially against Miracle control decks.