[Deck & Primer] UGB Intuition-Thresh

[Goaswerfraiejen]

UPDATE (11/12/2009): I have written an entirely updated primer with a whole new list, and discussion of other lists. It is available in PDF format at http://freepdfhosting.com/779b4c8aaa.pdf


Please be warned that it's long--42 pages--but that you hardly need to read it all. Just use the "find" function to get where you want to go. For the current list, either click the link in the last update, or scroll down just below it.


UPDATE (10/12/2009): Latest list available here. Please bear with me until the new primer is up. It's done, but 41 pages long--so I'm trying to find the best way to post it. Alternately, the newest list is posted just below, before the start of the old primer.

Lands (18)

3 Tropical Island
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
1 Wasteland


Creatures (15)

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Shriekmaw or Fleshbag Marauder
1 Genesis
1 Gigapede
1 Eternal Witness


Spells (28)

4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
3 Intuition
3 Daze
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Snuff Out
3 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Raven's Crime
1 Life from the Loam


Sideboard (15)

3 Engineered Plague
3 Diabolic Edict
3 Mindbreak Trap
2 Hydroblast
2 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Blue Elemental Blast



OLD PRIMER:

This thing is so long that, unfortunately, I had to break it up into a few posts to get it up here. My apologies.

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. Thanks are also in order to Hanni for his help with this primer; this primer is very much a joint effort between us, but due to a rather busy schedule on his end, I’ve taken over the final editing and posting.

Finally, thank you for your patience--this primer has been necessary for some time now, and it’s been in the works for almost as long. I can say with certainty, however, that its quality is much improved for the wait, and it’s much more relevant to today’s metagame.

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

1.) Deck History
2.) Decklists
-Goaswerfraiejen
-Hanni
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
-Alex Mack
-Michael Redford
-Anonymous
8.) Developmental Opportunities/Customizability
-UGR Intuition-Thresh
-UGR Late-Thresh
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 feel like Threshold combined with a (board) control feel like Landstill. Hanni has always been a huge fan of that sort of hybridization, and believes that it represents 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.

When Tarmogoyf was printed in April 2007, I quickly thought to make use of him in UGb Threshold (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 at the very beginning of the last thread. Anyway, at that point, Hanni thought to revive Aggro DAT and so he started plugging into the new thread. 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 become rather pressing.

Hanni has been a huge proponent of the deck, calling it the natural evolution of both Threshold and the format in general. Sadly, he and I lack the credibility of players like the Hatfields, David Gearhart, and company, and so it has proven difficult to garner the kind of attention that we feel the deck deserves. This deck has never really taken off in serious numbers, which is upsetting. Recently, the format has 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.

More recently, David Gearhart has designed a deck called It’s the Fear (ITF), which is an excellent control deck that shares a number of similarities with UGB Intuition-Thresh. ITF is built further down the spectrum towards control, acting more like Landstill, but still incorporates a few Threshold elements. Which deck is better is therefore a metagame-dependent question, although we obviously prefer being closer to Threshold overall. ITF simply feels too slow for us. We also prefer the actual card-advantage that this deck generates over the virtual card-advantage generated by ITF.

Regardless, it is difficult to understand why this deck hasn’t been given much attention at all over the last few years. It’s rather puzzling. Hopefully this primer will change that a little.


2.) Decklists


Goaswerfraiejen:

Lands (18)

3 Windswept Heath
2 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
2 Bayou
2 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Island
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Wasteland


Creatures (16)

4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Shriekmaw
1 Wonder
1 Genesis
1 Gigapede
1 Eternal Witness
1 Stinkweed Imp


Spells (26)

3 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Intuition
1 Life from the Loam
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Thoughtseize
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Raven's Crime


Sideboard (15)

4 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Extirpate
3 Krosan Grip
3 Crime/Punishment
1 Worm Harvest / Gaea’s Blessing (open metagame slot)





Hanni:

Lands (19)

4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Wasteland


Creatures (14)

4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Gigapede
3 Shriekmaw
1 Wonder
1 Genesis


Spells (27)

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Intuition
1 Life from the Loam
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Thoughtseize
3 Pernicious Deed


Sideboard (15)

3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Duress
4 Extirpate
2 Krosan Grip
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Stinkweed Imp