All Four Outpost Sieges

Outpost Siege
Outpost Siege

Find out why Patrick and Mike are going gaga over the — not one, not two, not three — but all four copies of Outpost Siege in Ben Stark’s R/W tempo deck!

But first…

Mike has had a long, hard, road on the PPTQ grind.

Playing in four events, Mike has finally put up a winning record!

(but a really winning record)

Mike played the “Top Level Podcast” version of B/U Control (changing only one card), before ultimately winning his PPTQ.

B/U Control by Top Level Podcast

2 Perilous Vault
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

1 Thoughtseize
4 Bile Blight
2 Crux of Fate
4 Hero’s Downfall
2 Murderous Cut

4 Dig Through Time
2 Disdainful Stroke
4 Dissolve
2 Divination
3 Jace’s Ingenuity
1 Pearl Lake Ancient

4 Dismal Backwater
3 Opulent Palace
4 Island
4 Polluted Delta
4 Radiant Fountain
3 Swamp
4 Temple of Deceit
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Sideboard
3 Drown in Sorrow
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Thoughtseize
2 Aetherspouts
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
2 Silumgar, the Drifting Death

The one change was removing the Treasure Cruise in the sideboard for a second Pearl Lake Ancient; in matchups where you might want a Treasure Cruise, Pearl Lake Ancient provides inevitability.

Mike and Patrick also discuss prospective, additional, changes to the deck.

And then…

What’s so great about Ben Stark’s R/W Tempo list?

Is it that so many of the lands enter the battlefield untapped?

Is it the streamlined “four-ofs” of so many great cards (that people have been afraid to play four copies of before now)?

“Tuned!” comments one host.

“Gorgeous!” exclaims the other.

“How could I have ever doubted you R/W?” asks Mike…

Why it’s now okay to play all four copies of Outpost Siege.

R/W Tempo by Ben Stark

4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Hordeling Outburst
3 Lightning Strike
4 Outpost Siege
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Wild Slash

4 Chained to the Rocks
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Soulfire Grand Master
1 Valorous Stance

4 Battlefield Forge
3 Evolving Wilds
9 Mountain
4 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard
2 Valorous Stance
3 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Arc Lightning
3 Erase
3 Mastery of the Unseen

Plus a discussion of Wild Slash, and why you might want Wild Slash more than Lightning Strike in this deck.

A detailed examination of Abzan Control reveals the secret technologies of bringing in four copies of Fleecemane Lion from the sideboard.

How R/W’s move from Lightning Strike to Wild Slash, plus the growing popularity of Valorous Stance helps the Fleecemane Lion case.

Patrick discusses changes to Abzan!

The position of Sultai Control in the current metagame!

Antonino De Rosa’s innovative new Waste Not deck!

And more!

All in “All Four Outpost Sieges”

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How Does Temur Ascendancy Work?

Temur Ascendancy
Temur Ascendancy

Wondering how Temur Ascendancy (or at least the Temur Ascendancy combo) works?

So was Mike!

Patrick explains the mechanics of this crazy new combo deck… And more!

TLDR:

  • Patrick Chapin and Mike Flores explore three decks from this past weekend’s winner’s circle:
  • The nuances of B/U Control (both the recent Grand Prix win and how one listener took down a Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifier with Top Level Podcast’s build from last week)
  • The rise of G/R Devotion
  • How Temur Ascendancy works! (duh)

Why does Patrick favor consistency versus Mike favoring explosiveness?

Does Abzan Aggro (versus Abzan Midrange) help expert players hold their natural edges?

General nuances of Standard / which skills does Standard reward?

B/U Control

  • One selling point of B/U Control is how intuitive it can be
  • Twenty-seven lands? Mike can get behind twenty-eight.
  • Radiant Fountain… Gotta play four
  • Is Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver overrated?
  • Patrick corrects Mike’s sideboarding
  • Is it ever right to play 61 cards?
  • The best match of Magic Mike has ever played
  • How to play Abzan v. B/U Control

G/R Devotion and G/R Big Mana

  • Whisperwood Elemental is the card that puts this strategy back on the map
  • Effectively “six power in bodies” for five mana that gives you defense against Crux of Fate, End Hostilities, and even Ugin

Temur Ascendancy Combo

  • Temur Ascendancy + Voyaging Satyr + Temur Sabretooth –> Patrick explains how this is a big, big mana, combo
  • Temur Ascendancy Combo can play like an old school Fires of Yavimaya deck or a Green Devotion deck
  • “Wildly inconsistent.” -Patrick Chapin
  • All this and more in “How Does Temur Ascendancy Work?”

    Direct Download

    Love Patrick and Michael? Or at least their collective takes on Magic: The Gathering? Try some of their books:

    Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

    Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

    Editor’s Note:
    Chapin forgot Memphis was this weekend (this podcast indicates it is next weekend)… He’ll still be there!

    Become Immense and Gurmag Angler

    Become Immense
    “If you’re going to play Infect, it is indefensible to not play four Become Immense.”

    Patrick Chapin and Michael J Flores originally intended to talk about the various decks fielded by Patrick’s team — and the greatest team on Earth — the Pantheon at Pro Tour Fate Reforged.

    But…

    They end up recording some not-originally-intended-for-public-consumption chatter about Mike’s struggles in some recent PPTQs, disillusion with the Abzan clan, and general inability to win that results in a spontaneous brewer’s delight!

    In a kind of prequel to the main episode, you can listen as Patrick and Michael assemble a B/U Control deck for Standard designed to combat a format of largely Abzan decks, and how two of Magic’s most decorated deck designers approach metagaming, card selection, and sideboarding… While the microphones are “supposed” to be off.

    The result?

    B/U Control by Top Level Podcast

    2 Perilous Vault
    2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

    1 Thoughtseize
    4 Bile Blight
    2 Crux of Fate
    4 Hero’s Downfall
    2 Murderous Cut

    4 Dig Through Time
    2 Disdainful Stroke
    4 Dissolve
    2 Divination
    3 Jace’s Ingenuity
    1 Pearl Lake Ancient

    4 Dismal Backwater
    3 Opulent Palace
    4 Island
    4 Polluted Delta
    4 Radiant Fountain
    3 Swamp
    4 Temple of Deceit
    1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

    Sideboard
    3 Drown in Sorrow
    2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
    3 Thoughtseize
    2 Aetherspouts
    2 Disdainful Stroke
    1 Treasure Cruise
    2 Silumgar, the Drifting Death

    Some notes from our hosts:

    • You don’t need more finishers – Ugin finishes everybody
    • You can side in Tasigur against “all opponents”
    • Some cool ways to gain percentage in how you pick your lands
    • Why you play Drown in Sorrow when it isn’t really the best in very many situations
    • How Silumgar, the Drifting Death beats up Elspeth, Sun’s Champion and Abzan in general
    • “Boring is fine as long as you’re winning”

    Patrick and Michael move on to Modern and talk about some of the successful decks of the Pantheon. Hall of Famer Jelger Wiegersma cracked Top 8 with a “stock” U/R Splinter Twin deck, and Jon Finkel finished out of the Top 8 on tiebreakers. Lots of in-depth discussion of these Modern archetypes — plus how to play with Amulet of Vigor — in the Modern middle section!

    Including this observation:
    “If you’re going to play Infect, it is indefensible to not play four Become Immense.”

    Finally, Patrick didn’t do well in the Modern portion of Pro Tour Fate Reforged himself… But he still loves his deck.

    “I’ve never gone 0-5 and been super happy with a deck before.”

    Have you seen his Modern deck?

    Just try to listen to “Become Immense and Gurmag Angler” without falling in love with it!

    Esper Delve by Patrick Chapin

    4 Mishra’s Bauble

    4 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
    4 Gurmag Angler
    2 Inquisition of Kozilek
    3 Liliana of the Veil
    2 Thoughtseize

    4 Gitaxian Probe
    4 Serum Visions
    4 Stubborn Denial
    4 Thoughtscour

    2 Lingering Souls
    4 Path to Exile

    4 Darkslick Shores
    2 Flooded Strand
    1 Godless Shrine
    1 Hallowed Fountain
    2 Island
    2 Marsh Flats
    4 Polluted Delta
    1 Swamp
    2 Watery Grave

    Sideboard
    3 Fulminator Mage
    3 Engineered Explosives
    2 Timely Reinforcements
    2 Kataki War’s Wage
    1 Deathmark
    1 Lingering Souls
    1 Plains
    1 Spellskite
    1 Meddling Mage

    All this and more in “Become Immense and Gurmag Angler”

    Direct Download

    Patrick’s book Next Level Deckbuilding will be out in paperback by Friday this week. Do yourself a favor and check out Next Level Deckbuilding at Star City Games!

    The Rise of Dig Through Time in Legacy

    Dig Through Time
    Legacy lost Treasure Cruise but kept Dig Through Time.
    Dig Through Time is just starting to take the place of “the broken blue delve card” of the format.

    Thank God there are not Legacy Pro Tours any more!

    The absence of Legacy Pro Tours allows the format to largely avoid bannings and evolve on its own. The recent removal of Treasure Cruise from Legacy has yielded immediate diversity.

    Patrick Chapin (from the Pantheon house on the road) joins Michael J Flores for a first look at the Legacy format, post Treasure Cruise banning.

    … Starting of course with a Delver of Secrets-free Grixis Control deck featuring Dig Through Time!

    “My only sadness is that he is not playing Cruel Ultimatum.”
    -Patrick Chapin

    Come hear the Legacy chats about Dig Through Time in Grixis + seven other decks in…

    “The Rise of Dig Through Time in Legacy”

    Direct Download

    Your hosts

    Patrick Chapin – @thepchapin
    Michael J Flores – @fivewithflores

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    Love our podcast? Check out these Magic: The Gathering books by Patrick and Michael:

    Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

    Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books