The Secrets of Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon put up a number of great results at the first opportunity:
a Star City Games Standard Open in Washington, DC.

Featured in multiple, distinct, strategies, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon was nevertheless only one of several Fate Reforged cards to make an immediate impact.

But what is the “secret combo” that Ugin, the Spirit Dragon shares with another one of Fate Reforged’s hot new additions?

Listen to the podcast and find out!

Patrick Chapin and Michael Flores run through a Standard Top 8 that features exciting new archetypes by Grand Prix Champion Gerard Fabiano and onetime US National Champion Ali Aintrazi, go all-in Azorius Heroic, and explore updates to metagame favorites like Boros Tokens, Abzan Aggro, and Abzan Midrange.

“The Secrets of Ugin, the Spirit Dragon” covers…

  • The question of just how good Tasigur, the Golden Fang is proving to be (already)
  • All different kinds of Sieges (in all different colors)
  • An all new archetype of creature-poor (but not creature-less) control
  • Whether Sylvan Caryatid sucks
  • Why Interpret the Signs has suddenly become a Standard powerhouse
  • How come Chained to the Rocks (and Heliod’s Pilgrim) suddenly stink
  • The mondo combo between Crux of Fate and Silumgar, the Drifting Death
  • … Oh yeah, and some amazing (yet easy to miss) combinations between Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and powerhouses new and rediscovered

Check it out!
“The Secrets of Ugin, the Spirit Dragon”

Direct Download

Your hosts

Patrick Chapin – @thepchapin
Michael J Flores – @fivewithflores

Follow Top Level Podcast on social media!

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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

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Why Birthing Pod Was Banned

According to Patrick, “the real reason” Birthing Pod was banned can be traced back to a single, solitary event.

Wanna know what that event was? Listen to the podcast of course!

Birthing Pod
Birthing Pod Banned!

Earlier this week our lords and masters in Renton, WA dropped the ban hammer on formats various. Chapin and Flores discuss bans in Vintage, Legacy, and Modern.

VINTAGE

How is Gifts Ungiven powered in Vintage, relative to Fact or Fiction?

LEGACY

“Legacy is this format where there is this illusion that somehow it is a reasonable format despite the fact that Brainstorm is legal.”

Treasure Cruise was restricted and / or banned in three different formats. What does the banning of Treasure Cruise in Legacy (but the not-affecting of Dig Through Time) mean for Wasteland? For Burn decks?

Wanna feel really icky gooey gross inside? Come listen to Patrick’s rules explanation of Woldgorger Dragon in Constructed tournament play… Legacy or not.

Patrick’s prediction for Legacy: B/G decks will be back with a vengeance!

MODERN

Lots of players have opinions about the Modern bannings… Patrick actually has to prepare for a Modern Pro Tour in the next couple of weeks! He shares some of his team’s preparation procedure for Pro Tours.

Some people are “passionately” and “aggressively” … pretending they are quitting Magic over the bans. Thoughts?

“Every single Modern Pro Tour is going to involve bans. THEY ALWAYS HAVE.”

What are the implications of these Bannings on key decks in the Modern format?

Will Splinter Twin return to dominance with a predicted de-emphasis on U/R Delver (thanks to the banning of Treasure Cruise?

Will U/R Storm challenge Splinter Twin as the U/R combo deck of choice [for the same reasons]?

What is the context in which you would actually want to play a Burn deck (in Modern or otherwise)?

What will be the fates of Wild Nacatl, Vengevine, or the returning Golgari Grave-Troll in the new-look Modern?

All this and more is answered in:

“Why Birthing Pod Was Banned”

Direct Download

Love Top Level Podcast? Try these books by Patrick and Michael…

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

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Tasigur, the Golden Fang (and more)

Patrick Chapin and Michael J Flores discuss the criteria for banning cards in Modern + the Tasigur, the Golden Fang and the best cards from Fate Reforged.

Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Tasigur, the Golden Fang
“Tasigur, the Golden Fang (and more)” discusses…

  • Speculation on the upcoming Banned List (kinda like everyone else) (but our dynamic duo resolve NOT to talk about the Banned List for an hour)
  • What it means for a card to be broken
  • How Treasure Cruise is better than “half the cards on the [present] Modern Banned List”
  • Criteria for banning a card
  • More of the modes on Abzan Charm!
  • All the great features on Tasigur, the Golden Fang
  • The first reason to “not be embarrassed” to play R/G or Temur?
  • Khans or Dragons?
    (which dragons)
  • If Manifest can make Trail of Mystery or Secret Plans happen (when Morph, alone, couldn’t)
  • And More!

Your Hosts:

Patrick Chapin – @thepchapin
Michael J Flores – @fivewithflores

If you like this podcast, why not try some of our hosts’ books?

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Direct Download

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Abzan Aggro and Warden of the First Tree

“Abzan Aggro and Warden of the First Tree” discusses…

Identifying good cards… and playing them!

How and when to “kill your darlings” in deck building. When do you, say, cut a Sakura-Tribe Elder, Goblin Piledriver… Or Courser of Kruphix? <-- This is a key deck building superpower!

The secrets of the Abzan Aggro deck that Patrick and other top Pro players ran at Grand Prix Denver (including a second-place “steak knives” finish by friend, friend, and friend of the ‘cast Matt Sperling).

Matt Sperling’s Abzan Aggro (care of Paul Rietzl)

2 Bile Blight
1 Herald of Torment
2 Hero’s Downfall
4 Thoughtseize

4 Abzan Charm
3 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Fleecemane Lion
3 Rakshasa Deathdealer
4 Siege Rhino
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

4 Heir of the Wilds

2 Wingmate Roc

3 Caves of Koilos
2 Forest
2 Llanowar Wastes
2 Plains
4 Temple of Malady
2 Temple of Silence
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Windswept Heath

sideboard:
2 Bile Blight
1 Dark Betrayal
2 Drown in Sorrow
1 Murderous Cut
3 Back to Nature
2 Hunt the Hunter
3 Glare of Heresy
1 Wingmate Roc

Contextualizing Abzan Aggro for a post-Fate Reforged world… Where Patrick and Michael talk about newcomer Warden of the First Tree!

Warden of the First Tree
Warden of the First Tree

Many Warden of the First Tree ideas, and in-depth analysis of the card!

What are you waiting for? Listen to this great new episode!

Direct Download

Want to hear more from Patrick and Michael? Check out their Magic: The Gathering books:

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

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Fate Reforged Asks – Ginger or Mary Ann?

This Podcast Discusses:

  • Current Standard
  • Fate Reforged spoilers (in particular Soulfire Grand Master and Jeskai Sage)

What does Patrick Chapin’s New Year’s Eve party bus have to do with a mid-2000’s Tsuyoshi Fujita deck design?

Our hosts discuss Standard – reviewing Mike’s Star City Super Invitational Qualifier Top 4, possibly in preparation of Patrick’s upcoming hometown event, Grand Prix Denver.

Mike’s R/W deck, as played:

2 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Stoke the Flames

3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Chained to the Rocks
3 Heliod’s Pilgrim
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Wingmate Roc

4 Battlefield Forge
1 Evolving Wilds
10 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Wind-Scarred Crag

sb:
2 Arc Lightning
2 Chandra Pyromaster
2 Sarkan, the Dragonspeaker
3 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
2 End Hostilities
4 Erase

Potential future state of Mike’s R/W deck, via Patrick’s suggestions (sorry, Taylor Swiftspear):

2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Dragon Mantle
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Stoke the Flames

4 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Chained to the Rocks
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
4 Heliod’s Pilgrim
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Wingmate Roc

4 Battlefield Forge
1 Evolving Wilds
10 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Wind-Scarred Crag

sb:
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Arc Lightning
2 Chandra Pyromaster
2 Sarkan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
2 End Hostilities
4 Erase

“Meaningful decisions are overrated.”
-Patrick Chapin

A general discussion of the great Fate Reforged two drops Soulfire Grand Master and Jeskai Sage. Did we say “great”? Interesting discussion from Patrick turns Mike around on a previously not-loved Jeskai Sage.

Editor’s Note: Patrick and Mike muse on using Soulfire Grand Master to recycle Temporal Tresspass. Temporal Trespass exiles itself so this is not a possible interaction.

Direct Download

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Whip of Erebos for Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Top Level Podcast and Whip of Erebos!

Whip of Erebos
Whip of Erebos keeps giving and giving, card advantage and life points… Like Santa.
You can unwrap this week’s Top Level Podcast [present] to learn the answers to these exciting questions:

  • What is “the most controversial thing anyone has ever said” (according to Mike)?
  • Same Answer — What card (that Patrick won a Pro Tour with / basically always plays) does he now think might not be playable at all?
  • What deck (that lots of people consider Standard Tier One) does Paul Rietzl think might be “the worst deck to ever win a match of Magic”?How do you get Patrick Chapin to play some random card?
  • Why does Patrick no longer think that Banishing Light is comparable to Hero’s Downfall?
  • What is the difference between Incinerate and Lightning Bolt (as applied to Standard)?

… All of that is in the first ten minutes!

There is an hour-plus more of Whip of Erebos / Heliod’s Pilgrim / Sultai Reanimator / Boros Beatdown chats.

Merry Christmas!

Direct Download

Want to hear more from these guys?

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

EDIT / Addition: By reader demand…

Mike’s Abzan-ish Auras

4 Doomwake Giant
1 Whip of Erebos

2 Karametra, God of Harvests
4 Siege Rhino

4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
2 Nylea’s Presence
4 Sylvan Caryatid

2 Banishing Light
4 Chained to the Rocks
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
4 Heliod’s Pilgrim

2 Evolving Wilds
5 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Temple of Plenty
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard
4 Thoughtseize
1 Whip of Erebos
4 Reclamation Sage
2 Banishing Light
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
3 End Hostilities

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The Truth About Jeskai Ascendancy

To open, Mike “goes deep” (a la Patrick) to talk about THE TRUTH.

What is true? What does it mean to be true in Magic? Useful? … A philosophy of Magic (and life) to start a discussion of this transformational Magic: The Gathering card —

Jeskai Ascendancy
Jeskai Ascendancy
Just how good is Jeskai Ascendancy? Mike has it — at least possibly — as the Number One Card in all of Standard Magic: The Gathering.

Can Jeskai Ascendancy crack Patrick’s Top 10 for Standard? Top five? Was this a miss for episode one (advocating Siege Rhino) or episode three (saying Mantis Rider was THE reason to play Jeskai colors in Standard)?

Well I guess you’ll just have to listen to find out!

Over the course of this epic hour-and-a-half Patrick and Mike talk about Dylan Donegan’s domination of the Standard portion of the recent Star City Games Invitational in Seattle (with Jeskai Ascendancy)… As well as Patrick’s Pantheon teammate Sam Black and his utilization of Jeskai Ascendancy in the Legacy portion of the same tournament.

What would Mike cut from the Standard Jeskai Ascendancy deck?

Why did Sam play Wind Zendikon in a Constructed deck… Let alone in the massive Legacy format?

You’re still going to have to listen to find out.

Dylan Donegan’s Standard Jeskai Ascendancy Deck:

4 Treasure Cruise

2 Jeskai Charm
4 Jeskai Ascendancy

2 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Lightning Strike
4 Stoke the Flames

4 Raise the Alarm
4 Seeker of the Way

3 Battlefield Forge
3 Flooded Strand
1 Island
2 Mountain
4 Mystic Monastery
2 Plains
1 Temple of Epiphany
4 Shivan Reef
4 Temple of Triumph

Sideboard
4 Disdainful Stroke
1 Negate
3 Arc Lightning
1 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
2 Erase
2 Glare of Heresy
2 Hushwing Gryff

Sam Black’s Legacy Jeskai Ascendancy Combo Deck:

1 Chrome Mox
4 Lotus Petal

4 Brainstorm
2 Dig Through Time
4 Fatestitcher
4 Force of Will
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Mental Note
3 Pact of Negation
4 Thought Scour
4 Treasure Cruise
2 Wind Zendikon

4 Jeskai Ascendancy

2 Gut Shot

1 Flooded Strand
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island

Sideboard
2 Pithing Needle
1 Echoing Truth
1 Flusterstorm
1 Hydroblast
1 Forked Bolt
2 Lightning Bolt
3 Pyroblast
1 Sulfur Elemental
3 Swords to Plowshares

… All this plus a couple of Jonny Magic stories and mad appreciation (and more props) for the beloved godfather of card advantage, Brian Weissman in:

THE TRUTH ABOUT JESKAI ASCENDANCY

Direct Download

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Treasure Cruise and the Definitively Best Deck in Modern

treasure-cruise
Two-time World Championship Finalist Patrick Chapin joins Michael Flores to talk about Treasure Cruise and his utterly dominant Izzet deck from the Modern portion of this year’s World Championship.

“I guess everybody loses to Shahar in the finals of Worlds these days.”
-Patrick Chapin

The most popular question our listeners have been asking us has not been why we didn’t include Gnarled Mass in last week’s discussion of 3/3 for thre mana creatures or to devote all future episodes to Mono-Black Control…

… But to get the RSS feed live!

If you have been desperate for a Top Level Podcast RSS feed, or to set up Top Level Podcast on iTunes, we’ve got you covered.

Patrick and Michael discuss some old cards like Brainstorm and Serra Avenger that didn’t see a lot of Standard play but are played in larger formats today.

A real-life Next Level Deckbuilding fight between our hosts… Team Mike Donais v. Team Alan Comer… Who is the granddaddy of Aggro-Control?

“Bizarrely,” the best deck in Legacy is legal in Modern!

Our own Patrick Chapin “only” finished second in the 2014 World Championship, but he had an absolutely dominating outing in the Modern portion.

This episode of Top Level Podcast focuses on the amazing card Treasure Cruise across multiple formats — Legacy, now Standard, but most importantly Modern. Patrick played the only undefeated deck in this year’s Modern portion.

This is definitively the best deck in Modern right now:

Patrick Chapin’s Izzet Delver

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Gitaxian Probe
1 Mana Leak
1 Remand
4 Serum Visions
1 Snapcaster Mage
2 Spell Snare
3 Thought Scour
4 Treasure Cruise
2 Vapor Snag

1 Izzet Charm
1 Electrolyze

2 Forked Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Young Pyromancer

1 Arid Mesa
4 Flooded Strand
4 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls

sideboard:
2 Dispel
1 Negate
2 Spell Pierce
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Blood Moon
1 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Electrickery
1 Harvest Pyre
1 Magma Spray
2 Smash to Smithereens

Treasure Cruise itself was absolutely dominant for Patrick, but he would make some changes to his deck if he played it again. What was his weakest card? His strongest cantrip?

Learn the sweet way you can turn Vapor Snag into “real” removal and against which opponents you should sideboard out Gitaxian Probe.

Patrick and Michael spend most of the podcast on Izzet Delver in Modern but also touch on Gareth Aye’s Standard deck from the Top 8 of Grand Prix San Antonio.

Izzet Aggro by Gareth Aye

3 Treasure Cruise

4 Fated Conflagration
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
4 Stoke the Flames

4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Island
6 Mountain
1 Polluted Delta
4 Shivan Reef
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
4 Temple of Epiphany
1 Wooded Foothills

sideboard:
3 Disdainful Stroke
3 Negate
2 Keranos, God of Storms
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Swiftwater Cliffs

Love Top Level Podcast? Check out the books by our hosts!

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Direct Download

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You Don’t Want to Utter End a Mantis Rider

Before we get started with Mantis Rider and this week’s episode, some general stuff…

Yes! Patrick has made the Top 4 of the World Championship! More on this at the Mother Ship.

Pretty much everything you have asked for is now up and running. So if you want to follow Top Level Podcast on iTunes or another RSS feed… You can!

We’d love if you’d follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube

Okay! Now onto Mantis Rider…

mantis-rider
Mantis Rider is a leader in the Standard card pool, not only on “rate” but context.

Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour Hall of Famer Patrick Chapin and Michael J Flores discuss some historical 3/3 creatures with haste for three mana; and contextualize Mantis Rider among this pantheon of performers. What gives Mantis Rider such a good “rate”?

What is rate anyway? Our hosts talk about ROI principles in not just deck design, but game design!

Most players can look at a Mantis Rider and realize that it should be an efficient card for its mana cost… But what makes it such a good option contextually? We’ll give you a hint… You don’t want to Utter End a Mantis Rider! … Not only does Mantis Rider ride its own efficiencies, but it can take advantage of inefficiencies elsewhere in the Standard environment to not just perform, but over-perform.

“There are more good cards than you can play in your deck.”

How can you determine what cards you actually should play? Figure out what cards are good to begin with, contextualize how they are positioned in the metagame, and predict the perceptions of others to improve your skills. [How]

A discussion of “Leveling” in deck design, and leveling in general. How do you get to the fabled next level [let alone our own “top” level]?

“You have to metagame against the winners’ circle”.

Finally, Next Level Magic is back! Check out Patrick’s first book, remastered and back in print (along with all of Patrick and Michael’s Magic: The Gathering books) via the links below:

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Direct Download

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Butcher of the Horde is Overrated! (but still very good)

Butcher of the HordeButcher of the Horde

Pro Tour Champion Patrick Chapin joins Resident Genius Michael J Flores for the second episode of Top Level Podcast!

In this episode the intrepid duo cover a variety of topics, both Butcher of the Horde-related and not-so-Butcher of the Horde-related.

Before you give it a listen, make sure to check out Top Level Podcast on Facebook and Twitter 🙂

In this episode…

  • A style of deck design you might not know about but that has taken down multiple Pro Tours!
  • Why it is important to play your lands in a particular order, and what to do when a card you draw might change your plan
  • The exciting (but ultimately not-ready-for-prime-time) “All-Stars” deck by Tomoharu Saito
  • The realization of Saito’s master plan by former Player of the Year Brad Nelson
  • A discussion of some very good cards that are all relatively similar in power level… How do you pick between Crackling Doom, Hero’s Downfall, Banishing Light, and Utter End?
  • Selecting cards on basis of mana cost versus mana curve
  • The one thing that sets Butcher of the Horde ultimately on top of Sadisi, Brood Tyrant

Top Level Podcast is made possible by standing on the shoulders of giants. Patrick and Michael would like to thank…

  • Kar Yung Tom of ManaDeprived
  • Brian David-Marshall of Top 8 Magic
  • Marshall Sutcliffe of Limited Resources
  • Patrick’s mom (of being Patrick’s mom)

Episode 2: Butcher of the Horde is Overrated! (but still very good)

Direct Download

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