[Deck] Hypergenesis

[Sturtzilla]

Hypergenesis Primer

I. Overview
II. History
III. Decklist
IV. Card Choices
a.) Manabase
b.) Acceleration
c.) Cascade Spells
d.) Win Conditions
e.) Protection/Utility
V. Reasons to Play Hypergenesis over other “Unfair Decks”
a.) Sneak and Show
b.) Reanimator
c.) Storm Decks
d.) Dredge
VI. Sample Hands and Sample Plays
a.) Sample Hand One
b.) Sample Hand Two
c.) Sample Hand Three
d.) Sample Hand Four
e.) Sample Hands for You
VII. Match-ups
VIII. Additional Information
a.) Major Tournament Reports
b.) Feature Matches
c.) Articles


I. Overview

As of late there has been a rash of deck archetypes designed around putting a creature so powerful into play that an opponent cannot conceivably deal with this single threat. A handful of these decks would be Reanimator, Sneak and Show, and now Hypergenesis. All of these decks take advantage of cards like Reanimate, Exhume, Show and Tell, Sneak Attack, and/or Through the Breach. For those of you that are sick of having your reanimated fatties removed promptly after plopping them into play, or your Emrakuls Gilded Draked away or those of you just sick of playing “fair decks,” I suggest coming to the dark (or darker) side that is Hypergenesis.

The general idea of the Hypergenesis deck is to play the same style game as a Sneak and Show player; yet, at a larger level. Sure you can set your sights on playing one crazy creature from your hand or you could dump a hand full of awesome dudes onto the board. While one of your threats will likely be enough to win the game, this deck lets you completely overwhelm your opponent by putting multiple game-winners into play. This style deck sidesteps the issue faced by Reanimator… graveyard hate. It also outmaneuvers fair decks that try to steal a Sneak and Show players fatty with a Gilded Drake or Sower of Temptation. It also plays a large suite of counter magic to keep its combo safe and its opponents in check.


II. History and Deck Evolution

As a competitive version of this deck is fairly new to the Legacy scene, this section will be rather short. The concept has been around since the printing of the deck’s namesake card Hypergenesis in the 2006 Time Spiral expansion. The concept has been alive longer due to cards like Eureka and Show and Tell. However a few years later, with the printing of cascade cards in the 2009 Alara Reborn expansion such as Violent Outburst, Bloodbraid Elf, and Demonic Dread a convenient means to “cheat” Hypergenesis’s suspend mechanic were now readily available. This was all well and good, but as WotC continued to push the envelope of powerful creatures, crazy and powerful duders such as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (Rise of the Eldrazi, 2010), Progenitus (Conflux, 2009), and Griselbrand (Avacyn Restored, 2012) were printed. This potentially pushed this deck to a level of playability in competitive events.

Early on in the development of this deck, it played four colors. This was to play the three necessary colors for the cascade spells: green, black, and red… but blue was added as a means to protect the deck’s combo. This meant the deck sometimes durdled due to its shaky manabase.

Then in the 2012 Planchase deck series, a few new cards were released, one of which fits perfectly into the above shell. It had the perfect mana cost for the build and also in the desired colors. Shardless Agent was exactly what this deck needed to get off the ground. It streamlined the mana costs of the deck. It also played into the desired colors (RUG) and allowed for the removal of black. This made the mana base more reliable. So without further ado the deck:


III. Decklists

Hypergenesis, 5th Place SCG Open Columbus 2012, Todd Anderson

Maindeck
4 Shardless Agent
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Force of Will
4 Misdirection
4 Violent Outburst
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Griselbrand
2 Maelstrom Wanderer
4 Progenitus
2 Hypergenesis
4 Show and Tell
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Mountain
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard
1 Ingot Chewer
3 Terastodon
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Dismember

Hypergenesis, 58th Place SCG Open Columbus 2012, Kaitlin Lindburg

Maindeck
4 Shardless Agent
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Force of Will
4 Misdirection
4 Violent Outburst
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Griselbrand
2 Akroma’s Memorial
4 Progenitus
2 Hypergenesis
4 Show and Tell
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Mountain
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Taiga
1 Tropical Island
1 Volcanic Island
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard
3 Terastodon
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Dismember

As you can see from these two lists, the choices for giving your team haste have been Maelstrom Wanderer and Akroma’s Memorial. The sideboards also differ slightly but share many of the same cards. I guess that question you have to ask yourself would be is another body more powerful than all of the abilities on the memorial. That would probably change depending upon your specific match up and also your overall metagame.


IV. Card Choices

a.) Manabase - Obliviously this deck is a three color list. But unlike many other tricolored decks out there, it only runs one of each dual land. Also interestingly it runs one of each basic land. Both of these points are to allow flexibility of early game board development, while also keeping it protected versus all of the Wastelands that run rampant in Legacy. Furthermore, you will notice that only 16 lands are played. This is because the deck only needs to hit three mana to function. Once that happens the deck should basically autopilot itself.

b.) Acceleration - This deck also runs 4 Simian Spirit Guide and 4 Elvish Spirit Guide. These allow for exceptionally explosives starts. It is normal for the deck to combo on turn three. However it has the potential to go off on turn one or two. Against most decks out there, this will be too much for them to handle. Also these guys can be dropped right into play after a Hypergenesis to act as additional attackers. Furthermore they are really the only pieces of acceleration that do not get cascaded into. That means they don’t break your chain on the way to Hypergenesis like most other accelerants would.

c.) Cascade Spells - 4 Violent Outburst and 4 Shardless Agent are the general engine for this deck. Some versions also run a few Maelstrom Wanderer, although he is going to be far less consistent than the above two cards. The three mana cascaders guarantee that you cascade until you hit Hypergenesis and then combo off.

d.) Win Conditions - You cast one of your eight, three-mana cascade cards mentioned above, either Violent Outburst or Shardless Agent, which allow you to cascade. The deck is designed to only hit Hypergenesis when you cascade. This is true of both the maindeck and sideboard and is an extremely important consideration when deciding on any card in the 75 (you wouldn’t want to cascade for your win and accidently hit say a Brainstorm or Daze). At that point you can put Emrakul, Griselbrand, and/or Progenitus into play (plus whatever else you want… extra lands, extra spirit guides, and/or your haste condition, etc.). This play should lead to an attack that either wins you the win on the spot or puts you in a position to win in the next few turns.

e.) Protection/Utility - As for protecting this sequence of plays from all of the scary counter magic out there in the Legacy landscape, the deck packs a whopping 8 free “counterspells.” Force of Will is a no-brainer for this format, while the underdog Misdirection also a great piece of protection for this deck. As you can Misdirect a counterspell (say and opposing Force of Will) back at itself, they essentially function as Force of Wills 5-8. This should give you the edge in many counter wars, as you will likely have twice the number of free way to interact with you opponent. You also have spirit guides, which can be ditched to pay for Dazes and Spell Pierces assuming you have enough of them. They can also help protect the deck’s key combo in some special other circumstances.

As a backup you can always just Show and Tell a big dude… that is pretty straightforward and also tends to win games.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that once you have a Griselbrand on the table, it is very likely that you can draw 7 or 14 cards and then proceed to combo again to either win or just to make your on board position even better.

f.) Sideboard Options - As this deck has just really come onto the scene, the sideboards are early in their construction. I would wager that there are more options for the sideboard but they have yet to be discovered and experimented with. I generally don’t believe in just following a sideboard guide that another person gives you. It detracts from the learning and understanding experience that comes with higher level Magic. Therefore I will outline the cards in the sideboards above. You can make the decision about how to board on your own. However let’s get right to it!

Ingot Chewer is for use against decks that are artifact based (MUD or Affinity) or for the occasional problem artifact like Ensaring Bridge or Trinisphere. These cards can keep your fatties from attacking or tax you extra mana on your cascaded spell. Neither of which is something you want to deal with. Obviously, he can either be evoked, cast, or potentially just Hypergenesised right into play.

Terastodon serves basically the same purpose as Ingot Chewer but gets to do so on a broader scale. For example, if Ingot Chewer is Sneak and Show, then Terastodon is Hypergenesis. It is more powerful and is broader in its applications. The ‘Don can take out pesky non-creature permanents that prevent you from attacking or comboing. That coupled with his ability to nuke land make him particularly dangerous. He can color or straight land lock your opponent or conversely take out your own lands to generate up to 18 power that given the right hand can attack right away. Yet another pretty scary interaction this deck can churn out.

Leyline of Sanctity protects you from a few different angles of attack. First it protects your combo from targeted discard. This keeps you safe from likely the most disruptive means of opposing attack and potentially blanks multiple cards in an opponent’s deck. It also keeps you safe from burn in decks like RUG Delver, U/R Delver, and of course Burn. It can also stave of combos like ANT and TES by protecting you from win condition cards like Tendril of Agony and Grapeshot. This can buy you turns or straight up win you these matches. A fun side note, this deck can still sneak this into play even without the white mana with both Show and Tell and Hypergenesis. So this card is never dead like it is in many other decks that don’t open with it.

Leyline of the Void is this decks only real viable form of graveyard hate. Most decks play Tormod’s Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, Surgical Extraction, among others. These cards all fall into the unplayable “less than 3” mana cost range for this deck. Remember we don’t want to cast a cascader and fail to hit a Hypergenesis and instead hit a piece of graveyard hate. Therefore we are left with Leyline of the Void. This card single-handedly and win games against most of the graveyard based decks in the format. Again note, this deck can still play this even without the black mana with both Show and Tell and Hypergenesis. So this card is never dead like it is in many other decks that don’t open with it.

Dismember is the deck’s choice piece of removal. It is safe from being cascaded into and can be played on the cheap. This would be exceptionally useful against anti-combo cards like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Aethersworn Canonist. The later can be played around with the new Shardless Agent but for cases where you don’t have that guy, removing your opponent’s hate bear seems really good.


V. Reasons to Hypergenesis over other “Unfair Decks”

a.) Sneak and Show - The major reason to play Hypergenesis over Sneak and Show deck would be the advantage of the additional creatures. Players have adapted to the [/cards]Show and Tell[cards]ed Emrakul with cards like Gilded Drake and Sower of Temptation. This means you can combo but still have a good chance at your opponent being prepared for it. With Hypergenesis, you have more options as far as playing multiple creatures, which means you are less likely to just get blown out, due to your opponents sideboard tech. Both decks operate on the same type of clock. Both tend to go off around turn three but can earlier. As far getting trumped by your opponent, since you can play lands and spirit guides, if you put your opponent on having a steal or swap effect… you can lead with these lower impact cards to blank their answers.

b.) Reanimator - Reanimator is likely a turn faster than this deck a fair share of the time, but they only get to pick one creature. [cards]Hypergenesis[cards] can land multiple threats and they can be hasted. So while Reanimator may be faster to combo, they are still likely slower to close the game. Additionally we do not have to worry about all of that graveyard hate that these players would have to deal with post board.

c.) Storm Decks - Here is my argument for ease of play. I love to play storm decks… particularly TES every now and then. Yet, playing a large scale tourney with a deck of that nature is very mentally taxing. Hypergenesis is likely on the same level of speed as most of these decks (ANT and TES are probably about the same while High Tide is likely a turn or maybe two slower), but is much more of an auto-pilot type experience. You hit your cascade spell… find the deck’s key spell, and drop dudes into play. You don’t have to worry about counting much higher than 3 in terms of mana, you don’t have to count your spells, and you don’t have to fret nearly as much about counterspells. You choices as far as counters go are 1) can I counter back? and/or 2) can I try to cascade again next turn? This is assuming your opponent counters your Hypergenesis and not the spell with cascade. These are far simpler questions to ask yourself.

d.) Dredge - This is similar to the analysis to Reanimator. If they don’t have the nuts on turn one (Faithless Looting into the Flashback off of Lion’s Eye Diamond into multiple dredgers with hot dredges), you are likely faster. You also have better mid/late game that should just take theirs out of contention. Again we don’t have to deal with graveyard hate post-board. Dredge can be either slowed or completely stopped by the particular grave-hate card used.


VI. Sample Hands and Sample Plays

a.) Sample Hand One: Elvish Spirit Guide, Misty Rainforest, Show and Tell, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Taiga, Shardless Agent, Force of Will
[Keep]

Turn 1: Play Misty Rainforest and pass (fetch at end of turn or during your upkeep depending opposing deck. Target also depends on the likelihood of Wastelands being played).
Turn 2: Play Taiga, pitch Elvish Spirit Guide, tap for UGx and cast Shardless Agent. Cascade into Hypergenesis. Put Emrakul into play. You have Force of Will back up. You likely win in next two turns.

b.) Sample Hand Two: Griselbrand, Scalding Tarn, Island, Hypergenesis, Violent Outburst, Misdirection, Force of Will
[Keep]

If you draw a land or mana source you likely win on turn 2-3.

Turn 1: Play Scalding Tarn and Pass.
Turn 2: Draw Forest. Play Island and Pass. Fetch at end of turn providing it is safe.
Turn 3. Play Forest and cast Violent Outburst. Cascade into Hypergenesis. Put Griselbrand into play. Draw 7 or 14 cards. Potentially combo again. If you can’t discard the Hypergenesis and an Emrakul and shuffle them back into your deck for another go next turn.

c.) Sample Hand Three: Hypergenesis, Island, Forest, Emrakul, Force of Will, Simian Spirit Guide, Hypergenesis
[Mulligan]

Both Hypergenesises are in you opener meaning you can’t cascade into anything. This is the nut low…

d.) Sample Hand Four: Shardless Agent, Emrakul, Progenitus, Wooded Foothills, Violent Outburst, Force of Will, Misdirection
[Arguable]

I would likely mulligan. You need to hit back to back land or mana sources. Otherwise this hand does nothing. I would go back but if you are on the draw and/or playing against a slow deck it might be doable.

e.) Sample Hands For You
Coming Soon!


VII. Match-ups
Coming Soon!


VIII. Additional Information

a.) Major Tournament Reports

b.) Feature Matches

c.) Articles
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/l...he_Top_64.html
http://starcitygames.com/events/cove...s_with_ge.html