[Deck] Imperial Painter

[Michael Keller]

Imperial Painter is a bold, new creation that takes the Painter's Servant/Grindstone combo to a new level. One of the most important aspects of the deck is that it doesn't rely solely on Grinding an opponent's entire library to win the game, but rather plays a slew of control elements that when paired with Painter's Servant can seriously rough up an opponent's permanent foundation. The deck utilizes a certain Portal Three Kingdoms creature (Imperial Recruiter) to tutor for the Servant or any other creature in your deck. This allows for outstanding consistency and the ability to put heat on an opponent early. There have been many incarnations of this unique archetype (including R/u), but the Mono Red version is typically referred to as the 'stock variant.'

For reference:

A 2008 Report from Hadley.
An Original Article about Imperial Painter.

Also, here is the current, most well-performing list for reference:

Imperial Painter as of 08NOV2011
Kim Grymer - G.P. Amsterdam (Top Eight)

[4x] Painter's Servant
[4x] Simian Spirit Guide
[4x] Imperial Recruiter
[3x] Magus of the Moon
[1x] Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
[1x] Phyrexian Revoker
[1x] Phyrexian Metamorph

[4x] Lightning Bolt
[3x] Pyroblast
[3x] Red Elemental Blast

[4x] Grindstone
[3x] Sensei's Divining Top
[3x] Chrome Mox

[5x] Mountain
[4x] Ancient Tomb
[4x] City of Traitors
[3x] Great Furnace
[2x] Wooded Foothills

//Sideboard
[4x] Thorn of Amethyst
[1x] Nihil Spellbomb
[2x] Tormod's Crypt
[1x] Phyrexian Metamorph
[1x] Manic Vandal
[1x] Red Elemental Blast
[1x] Pyroblast
[2x] Koth of the Hammer
[2x] Pyroclasm

This is a strange deck to say the least. It can play like: Combo, Aggro, Control, or a combination of any. With Painter's Servant in play, your Blast effects become instant-speed Vindicates and countermagic at the cost of one red mana. That seems pretty good. Ultimately, if your opponent does run blue, you already have a leg-up in the match. For some people, that might seem risky (running main-deck Blasts). It's important to realize that in essence you are taking a small chance with those cards at face value. But as the games goes on, they become more and more relevant, even if your opponent is in not playing blue.

There are some issues the deck faces, however. The deck plays off the opening hand and your mulligan strategy. This can be risky at times, but the reward can be plentiful. The inclusion of Imperial Recruiter sets your hand up without Painter so you can adapt to the game-state. However, the incredible dollar value of Imperial Recruiter can also be prohibitive to getting all of the deck together too, as they play a key role in the basic structure in which the deck exists. As the years have progressed, the value of this card has increased exponentially due in large part to its scarcity and utility in another archetype abusing its ability: Aluren. If you can get your hands on Recruiters, you can pretty much create this entire deck.

I've had some thoughts about how the deck performs without Painter's Servant. You'd think it plays almost identical to Dragon Stompy, and it does in the sense that you want to deplete your hand and overwhelm your opponent with big creatures. This deck, however, seems to want to setup and establish board position and control more so than the latter. Dropping turn one Magus for a lot of other decks can be the game. It's important to know when to play your threats and the order in which you play them. If you can establish a dominating board presence by using Blast effects to knock off potentially dangerous threats, you can clear a path for the basic combo do 'go off' at any time. However, seriously contemplate when you want to use your Blasts, as those are the cards that completely transform a game because of their versatility with painter's Servant in play. Be careful firing them off just because you can.

Simian Spirit Guide and Pyroblast/R.E.B. seems to be quite an efficient combination. Most opponents would assume that because you are playing all red cards you have absolutely no response to anything they play when you're tapped out (i.e. Stifle for the Dreadnought or storming into Diminishing Returns). This bastardization of Force of Will is certainly effective and can stun your opponent when they think the game is already won.

Consistency is key, and without it, this archetype might not exist if it weren't for Imperial Recruiter. The ability to search through your library and find any creature (in this deck, anyways) that you want is truly powerful. One of the great things about Imperial Recruiter is that he allows you to attack and block. That can be critical when you consider the importance of staving off an early Lackey or stalling for a next-turn win. Your smaller creatures work wonders in staving off large assaults and allowing you to protect your life total and generate more time to find both of your combo pieces. Imperial Recruiter can tutor for every single creature in your deck - sideboard included - so consider what targets are optimal and when they would work best at a given time.

Another interesting thing to take note of is the "three casting-cost" theory the deck uses against Counterbalance. While Imperial Painter already has a suitable amount of counteracting blue-based threats, you play a lot of three mana cards that can really throw off the blue enchantment seeing so much play. This really does help as it pretty much allows for all your creatures to hit the board and cause a variety of damage. You want to be careful, though: Once top hits play, it's important to recognize when to Blast the Balance (i.e. in response to the activation of drawing a card from Top).

Here's an explanation for some key cards included in the main-deck:

Painter's Servant
As the strategy of the deck revolves around this Scarecrow, you want him in play to transform your hand from defensive to offensive, or vice-versa. The basis for which the deck exists.

Grindstone
The "oops, I win" card of the deck. It is not necessary to win with this card alone, but essentially nullifies it from being considered simply a run-of-the-mill (pardon the pun) "Painter's-Grindstone" build. Truly nifty though in certain situations.

Simian Spirit Guide
Suitable for the purpose of either putting threats in play early or disguising your hand in preparation for countermagic activity. He beats, too.

Magus of the Moon
The old adage that "Magus wins games alone" really is true. If you can drop him in play turn one, that spells doom for most decks that run non-basics as their primary source for mana.

Imperial Recruiter
This overly-expensive uncommon from P3K serves you up every creature in your deck. He blocks and beats, and adds a tremendous amount of consistency to a deck which really didn't have any to begin with.

Lightning Bolt
An effective creature-kill card. It knocks off not only early threats, but acts like a finisher in some cases. At one mana, only Swords to Plowshares is better. But the ability to clear the board is too important, especially in the early game.

Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast/Active Volcano
One mana Counterspell/Vindicate with Painter in play. Even without, they still hose blue to the point where it gets annoying. They are simple and effective, especially in a deck which can wash everything the color of your choice, namely, blue.

Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
An extremely potent weapon when it goes online. She has both built in Vindicate and Incinerate at the cost of one and two plus a card, respectively. She serves as a lock component with Painter in play, turning your extra things like land and Moxes into Vindicates. She also gets around and destroys Counterbalance by herself. An absolute house against Merfolk, too.

Overall, the deck seems and plays really competitively. It really has a lot of influence deriving from the current general meta-game. Even against decks that don't run Blue, you have enough permanent destruction and a win-now combo that is proven effective. The archetype has changed over the years, but the concept remains fundamentally intact and just recently performed to a Top Eight appearance at GP: Amsterdam. The deck can truly be frightening in the hands of a skilled pilot, and it looks as though Imperial Painter is here to stay.