World's Rome - Day 1

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Some great action happening in the world of professional Magic the Gathering in Rome Italy today. For complete coverage, pop over to Wizards to see the latest, including blogs from event coverage staff, Podcasts, and videos from everything to feature matches, deck-tech analysis, and player profiles.

We were very much hoping not to see a bunch of Jund mirror-matches and are not disappointed. It is estimated that the current meta-game king (Jund aggro decks) made up approximately 35 to 40 % of the field. One deck that had stood out for us is that which was brought along by Pro-Player and MTG writer Manuel Bucher who is piloting a Bant deck featuring Emeria Angel, Knight of the Reliquary, and Baneslayer Angel.

Unfortunately, for most of us (as we like to eat), Baneslayer commands a price anywhere from $40 to $60 . . . DANG ! - Should be calling it Wallet-Slayer Angel. But hey - Budget players are an ingenous bunch and can be relied upon to find a solid replacement - perhaps something not as prone to Aven Mimeomancer.

Anywhoos - Let's have a look at Manuel Bucher's DECK.

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Also of great interest . . .

At approximately 11:30 EST from Evan Erwin’s twitter account that US Team member, Charles Gindy had been disqualified from Worlds for ‘Fraud.’ Many people were shocked and upset and a lot of speculation had been made since Evan's first tweet until just a few moments ago when, we had word finally from Wizards as to what officially happened.

Gindy controlled a Master of the Wild Hunt, along with a pair of Wolf tokens, one a 2/2, and the other a 3/3 thanks to a counter from Oran-Rief the Vastwood.

Gindy activated his Master of the Wild Hunt, targeting one of his opponent’s creatures, in order to kill it. His Wolves were tapped, and his opponent’s creature was killed by the 5 damage from Master of the Wild Hunt’s ability, but the opponent did not assign damage back to either Wolf.

At the end of the match, Gindy asked why his opponent had not assigned damage to kill one of Gindy’s Wolf tokens when Master of the Wild Hunt’s ability resolved. This made it clear that Gindy knew that one of his Wolf tokens should have been assigned damage, but had chosen not to say anything at the appropriate time.

It is mandatory that the ability of Master of the Wild Hunt be completed in full, and by intentionally allowing the card to be misplayed, Gindy committed fraud as defined in the Infraction Procedure Guide. With Master of the Wild Hunt, a clear assignment of damage must be made for the ability to have fully resolved. It is not an option to see an opponent making a play outside the rules and allow it to happen.

. . . DANG ! We should think that his team-mates have a few things to say in private latter on . . .

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Spreading Seas

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Good Day to all.
I hope that you will forgive my recent absence but I have been offlined to spend some quality time with H1N1. Hope that none of you decide to take this virus home with you.

Anywho, just getting back into it again and have noticed that Wizards has finally provided the official announcement to Rise of the Eldrazi today on Magic Arcana, the name of the third and final set in the Zendikar block. Altough we brought you this news more than a week ago (post HERE), there is a new image to look at . . .


Boy does that creature (presumably an 'Eldrazi') look not very pleased.

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Now - as the title of the post suggested (Spreading Seas), I wanted to yatter about this card and the potential answer it has to many of those Jund decks you may be running up against at FNM.

Spreading Seas, just like Convincing Mirage, may assist the player to disrupt an opponent's mana base very early in the game, and if properly followed-thorugh may just mess up their play enough to squeak out a win. In fact, the use of cards such as these against most multi-colour decks will just simply mess things up rather royally.

I've seen a few decks developed with Spreading Seas (the better of the two cards here). So far, the deck which has intrigued me most are the ones in which Sigil of the Empty Throne are prominent. I have even taken a liking to some of the decks I have seen with Kor Skyfisher which can bounce one of your permanents (read: enchantment) in order to play it again and pump out yet another 4/4 Angel token with Empty Throne.

As you will need some breathing room (read: live long enough), to set up your tech, look for Wall of Denial which most Jund decks I've seen does not have an answer for. This should buy just enough time to get things on the roll for you.

Some cards I am considering . .

Ardent Plea
Convincing Mirage
Ice Cage
Journey to Nowhere
Kor Skyfisher
Mesa Enchantress
Oblivion Ring
Sigil of the Empty Throne
Spreading Seas
Wall of Denial


Please drop my a line and suggest a final build for this with Spreading Seas and Sigil of the Empty Throne figuring prominently. I would do this, but as swine flu ate my brain, I am out of commission for at least another few days.

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Jund Aggro

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A quick review of Wizards Decks of the Week is a very decent place to start when looking for either Magic the Gathering deck ideas or to start thinking about developing an answer for these popular decks. If one were to assess the new hotness, look to the summaries of Standard on Magic Online top deck tournment returns, it becomes rapidly apparent that the deck to beat at the moment is Jund Aggro. Today, we will have a look at the common build for this deck.

For a deck list link from MTG Url, click HERE, for the analytical break-down, click HERE.

Main Deck : 60 cards

25 lands
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Forest
2 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
4 Swamp
3 Terramorphic Expanse

15 creatures
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Broodmate Dragon
4 Putrid Leech
4 Sprouting Thrinax

20 other spells
3 Bituminous Blast
4 Blightning
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Resounding Thunder
4 Terminate

15 sideboard cards
4 Duress
4 Great Sable Stag
4 Jund Charm
3 Pyroclasm

Most variants include the hasty Bloodbraid Elf which cascades nicely into Putrid Leech, Sprouting Thrinax, Blightning, Ligthning Bolt, Terminate or even a Malestrom Pulse. This is very decent by any metric you may want to use. The idea here is to obtain the best deck effeciency by tunning your deck to include a good number of two and three drop spells. Bituminous Blast also acts in the same way to cascade into pretty much everything else with the exception of Broodmate Dragon which is typically reserved as the game finisher.

The other card that really stands out in most of these builds is the Jund Charm to wipe the board of tokens and smaller critters. This card is most often used to pump up Putrid Leech which one could even pump yet again to handle a Baneslayer Angel if necessary.

Of note also is the inclusion within the sideboard of Great Sable Stag. This is typically reserved should you go up against a similar Jund build. This card will offer a definite advantage in a mirror match due his protection against black. One can now feel safe with the typical Jund removal and be able to effectively block Putrid Leech and the ilk.

All in all, this is a very decent deck. The drawback (for very many of us) is that this is no budget deck which comprises the meat 'n' potatoes of the casual kitchen / FNM Magic that this blog is dedicated to. Expect to pay in excess of $300 were you to buy all of these cards as singles.