Probably Playing Karakas
Double topics this week… We start on Standard, but then uncover why Patrick is probably playing Karakas in Legacy.
G/W had another big week (especially with Number One Seth Manfield taking down Grand Prix Costa Rica) but the coolest new technology appeared in the hands of Tom “the Boss” Ross:
R/W Humans by Tom Ross
2 Anointer of Champions
2 Consul’s Lieutenant
4 Dragon Hunter
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Thalia’s Lieutenant
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Town Gossipmonger
3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros4 Always Watching
3 Gryff’s Boon
4 Declaration in Stone14 Plains
4 Battlefield ForgeSideboard:
3 Hanweir Militia Captain
4 Reckless Bushwhacker
1 Gryff’s Boon
1 Silkwrap
2 Stasis Snare
4 Needle Spires
To the surprise of no one, Tom Ross hit #SCGATL with “eighteen Plains” … or rather, fourteen Plains and four copies of Battlefield Forge. Those Battlefield Forges do act as (painful) Plains main deck, but don’t have much immediate reason to tap for red.
After sideboarding, Tom brings in four copies of Needle Spires. This is nothing new… The post-sideboard version of R/W Humans wants to go up to twenty-two lands as it increases costs. Battlefield Forge and Needle Spires get along well, of course, with one powering up the other.
But why go up to twenty-two lands to begin with? So many of these white Humans decks side in Gideon (which is much more expensive than anything in Tom’s main)… But Tom didn’t play Gideon at all!
If you think about it, that makes a lot of sense. The B/W Control deck has plenty of cards like Ruinous Path and Anguished Unmaking to handle Gideon; Tom figured out to attack the format at a different angle. Instead of Gideon he brought in an actual red card, Reckless Bushwhacker.
Basically, Tom comes in swinging as hard as possible to begin with. Bam bam bam one drops et cetera. The opponent is expected to hit a sweeper…
And then Tom waits.
And waits.
And waits as he fills his hand.
After sufficient resource repair, Tom can send up a massive turn based on dropping all the power in his hand and finishing with Reckless Bushwhacker. Probably for lethal.
Further in the Standard section…
- Updates to Saito’s flying deck
- Why would you ever want to play Invocation of St. Traft?
- How to exploit a metagame where there are two fewer removal cards per deck?
- How to increase the mana consistency of U/R Eldrazi
We then switch gears to do a little Legacy brewing for this week’s upcoming Grand Prix.
Will Patrick play a deck with Jace, the Mind Sculptor or one with Cavern of Souls? One thing is sure: His deck will be able to return a legendary creature to its owners hand!
Listen to “Probably Playing Karakas” to find out:
