Crashing in Chicago

“Love is like a rhino, short-sighted and hasty; if it cannot find a way, it will make a way.”

This weekend I was fortunate enough to take down the TCGPlayer 5K in Chicago with none other than the Crash themselves. I've had the pleasure of playing with the little guys for the past 5 months or so and let me tell you, nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING is more satisfying than your opponent slumping in their chair and letting out the near inaudible groan as you tap your mana, “...uuuuugh not the 4th Rhino..” I've been known to not let cards go once I'm in love with them, Stoneforge Mystic, Delver of Secrets, Pack Rat, and I can assure you, Hoey and the Crash, the band, is going to stay together for quite some time. But enough about me and the boys, on to their friends...





Creatures (10)

4 Courser of Kruphix

4 Siege Rhino

2 Tasigur, The Golden Fang



Planeswalkers (4)

3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon



Spells (20)

4 Thoughtseize

4 Abzan Charm

3 Hero's Downfall

2 Read the Bones

1 Murderous Cut

1 Utter End

2 End Hostilities

3 Bile Blight



Lands (26)

3 Caves of Koilos

2 Llanowar Wastes

2 Forest

2 Plains

4 Windswept Heath

4 Sandsteppe Citadel

4 Temple of Silence

4 Temple of Malady

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth



Sideboard (15)

3 Drown in Sorrow

1 Erase

4 Fleecemane Lion

2 Glare of Heresy

1 Liliana Vess

1 Mastery of the Unseen

1 Nissa, Worldwaker

1 Read the Bones

1 Utter End



    The list was spectacular, but definitely incorrect. Brad Nelson had made a huge advancement in Memphis a few weeks ago with the sideboard Fleecemane Lion technology, it gives you a whole new dimension against a wide range of decks, not just the plethora of control decks that inhabit the format. Against them it allows us to apply early pressure and tax their removal, if they're wasting a Downfall on a Lion that's one less we have to worry about for our Planeswalkers, and if they don't they risk getting killed by a 4/4 Hexproof Indestructible creature later in the game. If they're prepared for the Lions, such as by leaving in Bile Blight or similar narrow answers post-board we're okay with that. Lets run down the scenarios in which Lion interacts with control opponents:

1. Our opponent keeps in and draws their narrow answers vs Lion and we draw Lion – mana and card neutral exchange

2. Our opponent keeps in and draws their narrow answers and we don't draw Lion – our opponent has effectively mulliganed

3. They keep in answers and neither of us draw the cards – no change

4. Our opponent doesn't draw these answers and we draw Lion – we earn a better card from them OR we monstrous the Lion and make it incredibly difficult for them to win



    Against the decks that this card was meant for it is pretty much the best sideboard card we can ask for. It not only forces their hand and trades up, but it also allows us to play the aggressor while maintaining a passive stance, which is what this deck does best. We can sit there threatening monstrous while also holding up Abzan Charms, Downfalls, and now Mastery of the Unseen. Speaking of Mastery of the Unseen, man what a week it has been for that card. Having been practicing Sealed and Draft for GP Cleveland this weekend, I've had the pleasure of playing with that spicy number quite a few times in limited, where it's unbeatable. Now that the cats out of the bag, everyone gets to play with it in standard.....where it's still unbeatable. One of the flaws of my deck this weekend was firstly that I was overly prepared for control in my sideboard, leaving me unable to bring in all nine of my cards that I had for it, and secondly I chose the wrong sideboard cards.



    In the past I would often write down a sideboard guide before each tournament. I would take the back page in my notebook and list the top 5 decks I expected to play against and then write the swaps I'd make in each of those matchups. Now, I think that side boarding the same way every time you play against a specific archetype is poor, there are always slight differences in each player's deck that you have to address, but that wasn't what this process was for. It was to allow me to know if my sideboard was correct, to make sure that I didn't have extra cards that I wasn't going to be able to side in against the matchups they were meant for. I stopped doing this long ago but this weekend reminded my why I used to, and that it was probably really, really idiotic that I stopped in the first place.



    Now to address the second flaw I noticed, the actual cards in my sideboard themselves. Fleecemane Lion, Liliana Vess, Nissa Worldwaker, Read the Bones and Mastery of the Unseen. This is our package against control but one of these cards seems.....awkward. We have 6 copies of these 2 drops that break control and midrange matchups wide open and allow us to sit there and represent any number of things to keeps our opponent guessing. Then we have these high-end game ending threats Liliana and Nissa which will either grind your opponent's hand into dust or grind them into dust. So given all these things are true, why the hell are we trying to draw two cards at sorcery speed!? We already have FOUR instant speed copies of effectively the same card that works in a much more cohesive manner with this configuration of the deck. While we picked up some great technology in Mastery and Lion, I was stuck in the past with my thinking and kept playing these glacially slow Sign in Bloods which was sad every time I drew. Guess we have to change that....



Creatures (12)

4 Courser of Kruphix

4 Siege Rhino

3 Fleecemane Lion

1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang



Planeswalkers (3)

2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

1 Liliana Vess



Spells (19)

4 Thoughtseize

4 Hero's Downfall

4 Abzan Charm

3 Bile Blight

2 Drown in Sorrow

1 Utter End

1 Murderous Cut



Lands (26 – Same as previous)
 


Sideboard (15)

2 Glare of Heresy

2 End Hostilities

2 Mastery of the Unseen

2 Nissa, Worldwaker

2 Back to Nature

1 Fleecemane Lion

1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

1 Drown in Sorrow

1 Erebos, God of the Dead

1 Utter End



    The previous argument I made for Lion's also applies to their main deck use, if they have these cheap answers such as Lightning Strike we're fine, and if they don't the Lion bricks their aggression or can pose a serious threat later in the game. Them knowing you have it still puts them to the test and makes them decide if they wish to leave suboptimal cards in their main deck after side boarding. Instead of any number of Read the Bones we have Erebos, which is slightly worse against some decks where you may have wanted Read to gain some velocity and find high impact answers, but it makes a serious gain against the formats new top contender G/W Devotion. Abzan can never beat someone if they ultimate Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, and allowing your opponent to gain a plethora of life with Mastery of the Unseen is the same. As such we gain Erebos for the velocity and to stifle their life gain in that matchup, while also complimenting our game plan of holding up on board mana-sinks against control decks.


    Another concession to G/W is replacing our End Hostilities with Drown in Sorrows in the main. Having a three drop to shut down their mana production or to clear their board of manifest creatures while developing in late game scenarios is huge. End Hostilities was a catch all and in a format where Drown in Sorrow is essentially the same thing, with the caveat being that it doesn't kill Mantis Rider, it only makes sense to have those in that main deck sweeper slot. Sometimes you'll be sad that you won't be able to trade a End Hostilities for a Rhino or Courser in the mirror, but we don't want End Hostilities there anyways. We also picked up another copy of Mastery of the Unseen and Nissa, both of those cards, especially Mastery, are particularly damning for control and had I tested more prior to the event like I should have, I'm sure I would have been as impressed with Mastery then as I am now. The last major change we made was to swap Liliana and Ugin and shave an Elspeth and Tasigur to make room for Lions. While Elspeth and Tasigur are great, they are slightly too top heavy to want against some of the low to the ground decks in the format that Lion can road block, particularly the Goblin Rabblemaster decks, and given that we're looking to maintain board presence more often in game ones with Lion, it's difficult to justify having an eight mana planeswalker that sweeps those up in the main deck.



    I would highly suggest this deck to anyone who wants to have game against the whole format. Abzan, unlike control decks based around a variety of counterspells, has such versatile and value filled cards that it is a good choice regardless of what you're expecting and even if you have no idea what to expect. While Dragon's of Tarkir will undoubtedly change the Standard metagame, I'm certain that the Rhinos will weather the storm. The above list would be the deck I would play if I had a standard tournament today, and is in my opinion a good starting point once dragons rule the land.






BONUS! I had written this a bit earlier in the week, but today we got to see another sweet Command, so I figured I'd throw in a section about possible cards Abzan gains from Dragon's of Tarkir.



This card seems like an awesome sideboard card for Abzan.  It feels as though it's a pretty large upgrade on Erase, though I'm not sure if it's better than Back to Nature given its 2 for 1 or greater upside on problematic enchantments.  Having the ability to also be a removal spell or blank a Stoke the Flames which on Courser is huge.  There are many instances against R/W and Jeskai where they will Stoke your Courser at 5-6 mana and you'll be left taking a boatload of damage on the following turn, not anymore.  We both get to save our Courser as well as diminish their board presence.  The problem comes when Courser gets hit by a Chained to the Rocks and we have to give their creature a buff in order to rebuy our Courser, but this card has some major potential given the high amount of upside it can gain.  



This card might be a little too cute for Abzan given that it already has a plethora of answers to CMC 3 or less creatures that are more versatile, but this card is definitely a contender for side board slots against aggressive decks, I'd look for it to see some amount of play in the future (along with suspension field).  



This card might also fall into the "too cute" category, but I think this card has serious applications.  Not only does it pop your opponents higher end cards, but it's also a very reasonable card against aggressive decks given that it has exactly the right power (2) and has lifelink.  This card may not be the best card since Stormbreath Dragon is the curve topper for red based aggressive at the moment.


 
If nothing else, I know for a fact that this card will see play in the format and in Abzan.  This card may actually swing the control matchups back towards the U/B based decks a bit, given that shocking themselves to Thoughtseize isn't exactly the greatest thing.  Though not being able to choose Courser is pretty huge given that it is secretly the best card Abzan has against control, drawing untold amount of cards effectively if left unchecked.  Abzan may just have enough action spells to not care about having extra discard effects, but that can always change and allow us to have a more low to the ground game plan against control where we gut their hand early and play these bonkers 2 drops without the need to have a top end.  


Another anti-control card, do we really need more?  Probably not, Autumn's Veil was not exactly my favorite card to play against the first time around, but being on the opposite end of this time may change my mind.  A cheap answer to essentially everything Sultai Control can throw at you, but I'm not sure that's necessary when you already have so many of those already.  Protecting our own walkers from a Hero's Downfall is nice but unnecessary.



There are many multicolored creatures running around, but then again some of the ones we fear the most are monocolored.  Stormbreath Dragon.  Goblin Rabblemaster.  Seeker of the Way.  Favored Hoplite.  Hero of Iroas.  Soulfire Grand Master.  Courser of Kruphix.  We can't hit Rhinos, but they're our friends why would we want to?!  It's no Doom Blade, which coincidentally cant kill Rhino anyways, but it's the next best thing and I feel like we will surely see it being interchangeable with some of the Bile Blights if not replacing them all together.  



There are probably a few more sweet ones hiding in Dragon's of Tarkir, but I can't give away all my secrets!  I'll be streaming tonight and in GP Cleveland this weekend, so if anyone sees me feel free to hang out and chat or come say hello.  Until next time.