GR mid-range

f_teve · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

i have generally found that the top decks in any given format (be it block, standard, extended, or even vintage) are at least prepared for the "all in" strategy, if not welcoming it. peolpe know about the capabilities of turn 4 akroma, and will be prepared for such a strategy. blue decks will probably just counter the morph, or snap it back and counter it the next turn. red decks will just kill them both, and black decks...well, we all know what the black deck is going to do. i mean, sure, it makes them show it to you, but ive never really been a fan of the "all in on one threat without any disruption, please god i hope its good enough" strategy. sure it will win some, maybe even several, games, but in the long run i think it is a losing strategy. i like a lot of hte cards in red and green, because they seem to attack the current decks in ways they are not prepared for, but i think it is foolish to walk into their game plan simply because it gets the 6/6 on the board 2-3 turns earlier. our r/g deck has been focusing much more on control elements (even splashing black for void) and building up inevitability. i think speed is very overrated in this format right now, and i believe that the cheap threats are so narrow and fragile that the power of the answer cards is able to win in the long run. plus the amount of burn in this format sucks. and its even hard for the fast decks to play (with the exception of mono red, i think thats the best aggressive strategy, despite the overwhelming lack of good one and two drops) because they cant fix their mana at an efficient price. for reference, my RGb deck (that i am 90-95% on playing at Yokohama)

4 search for tomorrow
4 wall of roots
4 magus of the library
4 stormbind
4 call of the herd
4 torchling
2 akroma, angel of fury
3 void
2 boom/bust
4 harmonize
4 terramorphic expanse
7 mountain
11 forest
1 swamp
2 molten slagheap

SB 4 mwonvuli acid-moss
SB 4 strangling soot
SB 2 serrated arrows
SB 1 boom/bust
SB 1 akroma, angel of fury
SB 3 krosan grip

this deck destroys teferi control and weenie decks of all kinds. we have limited testing against S&F, but i would imagine void would shine in that matchup as well. its so good i want a 4th main, but i dont know what to cut.

f_teve

Notgnawy · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 19

The deck is really not just relying on getting an Akroma flipped on turn 4. Yes, it's awesome synergy, and isn't that a good thing? It's great when it works, and i don't think there's lose of card advantage anywhere in the equation.

The thing you maybe haven't realized yet, is that the deck is *not* a fast aggro deck. It applies pressure by laying heavy hitters fast. This doesn't mean that the cards played in the deck are *weenies*, or card disavantage in the long run. The deck is full of synergies, ranging from Radha - Akroma/Sulfur - Scryb - Force - Stormbind - Call - Stormbind - Temper - Radha - Timbermare - Scryb and the list is almost endless.

f_teve, your decklist looks promising. I'm interested about Torchling and its impact. Also, it seems that now every deck is trying to abuse that green magus one way or another. Is it really that powerful?

f_teve · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

i apologize if it came off like i was criticizing the deck becuase of the turn 4 akroma plan. my intention was just to criticize the plan itself, not the deck. given that the deck is not a "fast aggro deck", and is more of a midrange control stragety, i believe that looking for the turn 4 akroma goes against the nature of the deck, and will hurt you in the long run.

when going into a RELATIVELY unknown environtment, i believe a good strategy is to play a deck that attacks from an unexpected angle. this means that i (and im probably alone on this, but i stand by it) do not like the spectral force + scryb ranger combo. im not going to be the guy who says it is bad (cause it isnt by any means bad, i just prefer a different angle of attack)

i didnt even know how good torchling would be, but i just wanted to try it out, and it turns out to be really really good. the blue removal is useless vs it (except cloudskate can still get it) and it just OWNS the monored deck. just crushes their whole team. and yeah, magus of the library is that good. tapping to draw a card will always be welcome in my book. it is absolutely absurd if you resolve a stormbind afterwards. plus, even on the play, he can accelerate into a turn 3 harmonize on the play, which fills you back up to 7, so hes online. plus, if worst comes to worst, it still can function as a fragile prismatic lens that can chump block. he is worse against red decks, but if he sticks, its hard to lose.

all in all, i guess my main point is i dont like tweaking the deck to be able to get an "explosive" draw, and instead focus on a consistent midgame strategy. while synergies can be (and are) a strong strategy, i believe that raw power has teh edge in a vacuum (that is, if the synergy deck is not a disruptive one).

f_teve