Tag Archives: Podcasts

Mage-Ring Network Engine

Mage-Ring Network
Mage-Ring Network is a powerful innovation in Esper control decks,
facilitating Ugin, the Spirit Dragon and great flexibility

Patrick made Top 8 of Grand Prix Indianapolis with Esper Control! He played a deck that was informed by his own work for Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar + the recent excellence of Reid Duke.

(much love for Reid Duke in this podcast)

Esper Control by Patrick Chapin

2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

1 Languish
1 Murderous Cut
2 Ultimate Price

2 Anticipate
2 Clash of Wills
4 Dig Through Time
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
2 Negate
1 Horribly Awry
1 Scatter to the Winds

1 Dragonlord Silumgar
3 Ojutai’s Command
1 Silumgar’s Command
2 Utter End

1 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Planar Outburst
1 Surge of Righteousness

1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Flooded Strand
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
3 Island
2 Mage-Ring Network
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
3 Prairie Stream
3 Shambling Vent
3 Sunken Hollow
1 Swamp
1 Windswept Heath

sideboard:
3 Duress
1 Infinite Obliteration
1 Painful Truths
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Dispel
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
2 Arashin Cleric
2 Monastery Mentor
1 Surge of Righteousness

“You can’t use your entire sideboard to get your match up to 25%. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
-Patrick Chapin

Our hosts discuss various sideboard strategies for various formats… Everything from Dredge in Legacy to whether or not Arashin Cleric is any good in Mage-Ring Network Esper.

What makes a good card in Standard? What is a better way to go than “trying to look clever”?

How can you find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?

When to you sideboard in Monastery Mentor?

The answers to all these questions and more in “Mage-Ring Network Engine”

Direct Download

… Oh, and for everyone asking, the song we use in and out is Innovate by The Gatherin:

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The Many Homes of Jaddi Offshoot

Jaddi Offshoot
Patrick Chapin and Michael J. Flores go over three new-ish and cool Standard decks, two of which feature Battle for Zendikar uncommon Jaddi Offshoot.

Jaddi Offshoot is proving to be a powerful main deck and sideboard card; it is awesome with both fetchlands and green acceleration cards a la Explosive Vegegation.

“If I had a four year old sister I think this is the mana base that she would make.”
-Patrick Chapin

Patrick was talking about the mana base of this sweet deck:

Four-color Rally the Ancestors by Pascal Maynard

4 Grim Haruspex
4 Nantuko Husk
4 Zulaport Cutthroat

4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
3 Sidisi’s Faithful

4 Catacomb Sifter

4 Collected Company
4 Elvish Visionary

4 Rally the Ancestors

2 Canopy Vista
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
1 Prairie Stream
2 Sunken Hollow
1 Swamp
4 Windswept Heath

sideboard:
4 Jaddi Offshoot
4 Murderous Cut
3 Dispel
2 Arashin Cleric
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Merciless Executioner

There are lots of interesting things to talk about with this deck, but the most aggressive has to be the mana base! That is right friends / neighbors / listeners… There are four Evolving Wilds and one of each of the four different basic lands in this deck!

The mechanics of this deck are a little bit different from other Rally the Ancestors decks. Unlike some of the earlier Rally decks, Maynard’s build plays the mighty Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy (arguably the single strongest card in Standard) to start setting up the Rally the Ancestors graveyard action.

Ultimately the plan is to use Nantuko Husk to get mad card advantage with Grim Haruspex and potentially grind the opponent to death with Zulaport Cutthroat.

Grim Haruspex
Every time you sacrifice a creature to Nantuko Husk, Grim Haruspex allows you to draw a card. You can get some of them back later with Rally the Ancestors (or conversely, maybe you were going to lose all of them anyway due to already coming back via Rally the Ancestors).

Zulaport Cutthroat
Zulaport Cutthroat might look like it’s carrying a chainsaw, but with Nantuko Husk sacrifices, it is more like a machine gun.

Important to note in Maynard’s sideboard: Jaddi Offshoot

Of the three awesome new-ish decks, Jake Mondello’s Eldrazi ramp may be the most exciting.

Eldrazi Ramp by Jake Mondello

4 Hangarback Walker
3 Hedron Archive
4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
3 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

2 Dragonlord Atarka

4 Explosive Vegetation
4 Jaddi Offshoot
4 Map the Wastes
3 Nissa’s Pilgrimage
4 Sylvan Scrying

1 Blighted Woodland
14 Forest
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
1 Mountain
4 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods

sideboard:
1 Ruin Processor
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Whisperwood Elemental
2 Winds of Qal Sisma
3 Rending Volley
4 Seismic Rupture

Mondello’s Eldrazi Ramp might look like a sledgehammer… But it is actually a very elegant and subtly built version.

One of the things that is most important about this deck is what is missing. There are no instants! Map the Wastes might look like the oddball, but including it as a four-of… But the fact that so many decks play Dispel means that Mondello will win some games for free because even G/W tokens plays Dispel main 🙂

Another card type that is missing is enchantment. Mondello played many four mana accelerator cards like Explosive Vegetation and Hedron Archive; but From Beyond and Frontier Siege are both comparable… But they are enchantments. Because Mondello had none, he was less vulnerable to Dromoka’s Command.

That said, Map the Wastes is actually pretty good in this deck. Adding Bolster to an acceleration card isn’t too bad when you run four copies of Jaddi Offsoot main!

And speaking of Jaddi Offshoot, it has lots of text in this deck. While Mondello had no fetchlands for double triggers, he did have tons of cards that either find or put into play multiple lands with a single card.

life

Life

LIFE!

Esper Control by Reid Duke

2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

2 Murderous Cut
1 Painful Truths
2 Ultimate Price

2 Anticipate
4 Clash of Wills
4 Dig Through Time
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
1 Negate
1 Scatter to the Winds

4 Ojutai’s Command
1 Silumgar’s Command
2 Utter End

1 Arashin Cleric
2 Planar Outburst

1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Flooded Strand
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
4 Island
2 Mage-Ring Network
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
3 Prairie Stream
2 Shambling Vent
3 Sunken Hollow
1 Swamp
1 Windswept Heath

sideboard:
2 Duress
1 Foul-Tongue Invocation
2 Dispel
1 Negate
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Dragonlord Silumgar
3 Arashin Cleric
3 Surge of Righteousness

A deck strategy near and dear to Patrick’s heart (and a player near and dear to all our hearts) is Reid Duke with Esper Control. Patrick and Michael talk about the differences between Reid’s take and Patricks, and the ins and outs of Awaken and Ugin. Reid’s deck, unfortunately, does not feature Jaddi Offshoot 🙁

All these decks and more in “The Many Homes of Jaddi Offshoot”

Direct Download

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Double Strike!

Temur Battle Rage
Temur Battle Rage is probably the most important Double Strike card in Standard right now…
This week Top Level Podcast brings you “Double Strike” … a double-sized recap of the top decks from Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar!

These and other topics are discussed:

  • In some ways, this Standard is the same as the last Standard… but with battle lands :/
  • Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is probably the best card from Battle for Zendikar (at least excepting the new lands)
  • Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy is probably the best card — and certainly the best creature — in Standard (albeit less ubiquitous than Gideon)
  • The pros and cons of playing four copies of Valorous Stance (not to mention only 24 lands) in your Jeskai deck
  • When to cast Tasigur, the Golden Fang and for how much mana
  • Atarka Red wants more spells for Spell Mastery and discounting Become Immense; but Gruul Landfall exploits cretures like Snapping Gnarlid to avoid Surge of Righteousness (of course both builds Double Strike you to death)
  • Esper Control (aka Orzhov Control splashing blue) has a branding problem… But Patrick takes care of that, no problem.

All this and more — colossally more given this is a two-hour podcast — is jammed into “Double Strike”

… Give “Double Strike” a listen:

Direct Download

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Emeria Shepherd Makes HOW MUCH Mana?

Emeria Shepherd
Wait for it… Wait for it… We’ll get to Emeria Shepherd…

Pro Tour Champion Patrick Chapin and onetime Resident Genius Michael J. Flores return to the world of the Star City Games Open Series for one more pass at Standard before this week’s Pro Tour Battle for Zendikar.

“I love that we live in a day and age when he Top 32’d a major event with three Siege Rhinos and it didn’t even derail the sentence.”
-Patrick Chapin

What a weird Standard this is!

The Top 8 of the Atlanta Open was all G/W Megamorph variants and Jeskai variants. Literally every deck in the Top 8 had either four Den Protectors or four Mantis Riders.

At the same time we have decks that either cut the fourth Siege Rhino… Or can loop lots of Siege Rhinos with cards like Kolaghan’s Command.

Speaking of Siege Rhino, Ali Aintrazi improved his performance week over week, missing Top 8 on breakers (9th place). Patrick in particular likes the move away from Eldrazi; Mike likes moving Siege Rhino to the main, and the top-to-bottom stack of just super premium cards.

Five-color Control by Ali Aintrazi

2 Hangarback Walker
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

2 Dig Through Time
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy

4 Abzan Charm
4 Catacomb Sifter
1 Dragonlord Atarka
2 Dragonlord Dromoka
4 Siege Rhino
1 Utter End

1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer

3 Draconic Roar
4 Radiant Flames

4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Canopy Vista
1 Cinder Glade
4 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Lumbering Falls
1 Mountain
1 Plains
3 Polluted Delta
1 Prairie Stream
1 Shambling Vent
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Swamp
2 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1 Murderous Cut
2 Transgress the Mind
2 Exert Influence
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Kolaghan’s Command
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1 Sultai Charm
2 Fiery Impulse
1 Radiant Purge
2 Surge of Righteousness

Our intrepid hosts go over tons of Top 32 decks — all flavors of G/W, Jeskai, Abzan, and Red Decks — until which point Patrick makes the point that 28/32 were white decks.

And yet…

We haven’t seen the emergence of certain cards yet; like…

Emeria Shepherd.

In typical Top Level Podcast fashion Patrick leaves the podcast with quite the first falling domino. Just imagine playing the card Emeria Shepherd in a format with Sakura-Tribe Elder.

Think about that for a sec.

Depending on the configuration of your deck, this combination can get quite a few lands out of your deck; maybe not all of them, but then again…

Maybe.

All this and more in “Emeria Shepherd Makes HOW MUCH Mana?”

Direct Download

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Ob Nixilis Reignited in Abzan

Ob Nixilis Reignited
Ob Nixilis Reignited might seem slow, but think about it like this:
Either they have a creature (and you kill it) or they don’t… And you draw an extra card.
And you keep drawing an extra card for the rest of the game.

“Ob Nixilis Reignited in Abzan” starts at a familiar place for Top Level Podcast… One of our hosts expressing his admiration for Siege Rhino!

(for once, it’s Mike)

So this episode of Top Level Podcast is dedicated to building Abzan decks with new tools from Battle for Zendikar.

Drana, Liberator of Malakir
Drana, Liberator of Malakir

Drana, Liberator of Malakir is a standout three drop… That Mike somehow didn’t have in his starting Abzan Aggro deck. There are lots of good three drop creatures, but Drana is the rare card on the order of Anafenza, the Foremost or Brimaz, King of Oreskos at that point on the mana curve.

Some Drana, Liberator of Malakir highlights:

  • Drana is great against removal! Drana is too big on the backside for Wild Slash; generally too small for Abzan Charm or Valorous Stance; and benefits from the absence of Bile Blight and Lightning Strike (plus the general lack of popularity of Ultimate Price).
  • Drana is a super deadly attacker! Because Drana has first strike, damage potential for all your attackers who don’t have first strike will go through the roof on every successful attack.
  • Drana works with both sides of Hangarback Walker! Drana gives Hangarback Walker itself a +1/+1 counter, but can be even better with several small creatures at your beck and call.

Woodland Wanderer
Woodland Wanderer

Patrick convinces Mike to try Woodland Wanderer; previously Mike considered it just some guy.

“The difference between Butcher of the Horde and Woodland Wanderer is like the difference between Prognostic Sphinx and Baneslayer Angel.”
-Patrick Chapin

… Sometimes Prognostic Sphinx is “right” but Baneslayer Angel gives them the business. Woodland Wanderer just gives them the business.

We conclude the episode with Patrick putting together an Abzan Control deck on the fly!

Abzan Midrange by Patrick Chapin

4 Hangarback Walker

2 Languish
2 Ob-Nixilis, Reignited
2 Transgress the Mind
1 Reave Soul
3 Ruinous Path
1 Ultimate Price

4 Abzan Charm
4 Siege Rhino

3 Den Protector
2 Greenwarden of Murasa
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer

2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

2 Caves of Koilos
1 Canopy Vista
3 Forest
4 Llanowar Wastes
3 Mortuary Mire
2 Plains
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Shambling Vent
4 Windswept Heath

Sideboard
1 Duress
1 Ob-Nixilis, Reignited
2 Painful Truths
1 Self-Inflicted Wound
1 Transgress the Mind
1 Dromoka’s Command
3 Arashin Cleric
1 Planar Outburst
1 Righteous Surge
1 Tragic Arrogance
1 Gaea’s Revenge
1 Infinite Obliteration

Give “Ob Nixilis in Abzan” a listen now:

Direct Download

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Catacomb Sifter is the Sleeper!

Catacomb Sifter
Why does Patrick think Catacomb Sifter will be the sleeper card of Battle for Zendikar?

  • Rate: Catacomb Sifter compares favorably to Hordeling Outburst (a Standard quality Staple) on multiple dimensions. It is three power and four toughness (an upgrade over three power and three toughness) for three mana, also over multiple bodies. Though two bodies are less abusable with pump effects than three bodies, Catacomb Sifter is at least closely in the conversation… Not to mention better whenever you don’t have buff cards.
  • Synergies: Catacomb Sifter is a natural best friend to Liliana, Heretical Healer, and great to flip over alongside Liliana with Collected Company. It will both contribute to Ramp strategies and even compete with conventional three drops, like Anafenza, the Foremost!
  • Scrying: Scrying is a heck on an ability to get “for free” … Especially when Catacomb Sifter comes ready with an Eldrazi body to get the Scrying engine going. It can combine with other Eldrazi Scions just as easily. And anyway, if there’s one thing you don’t want to do, it’s let your Eldrazi opponent scry to whatever cards he wants, for free.
  • … and more!

While Catacomb Sifter projects to be the set’s big sleeper, the discussion in this podcast touches on lots of different Eldrazi (and Eldrazi Scion) setups and strategies.

How does From Beyond compare with Explosive Vegetation, Hedron Archive, or Frontier Siege at the four?

Everyone knows that Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is the Big! Bad! of Battle for Zendikar… But what other giant Eldrazi (or other big threats in general) might you want to ramp up to? What about going after little threats with tutor cards instead?

Crumble to Dust is in many ways an improved Sowing Salt (which makes it almost guaranteed to be a tournament quality card)… But what about using it directly as a setup man for Oblivion Sower? (don’t worry, Mike didn’t realize how crazy synergistic that one is, either)

Check out “Catacomb Sifter is the Sleeper!” now:

Direct Download

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Makindi Sliderunner! Snapping Gnarlid! Pilgrim’s Eye!

Makindi Sliderunner
Makindi Sliderunner is one of three exclusive preview cards Top Level Podcast got for Battle for Zendikar.

Quick verdict on Makindi Sliderunner… We like it!

“I’m a fan.”
-Patrick

Makindi Sliderunner will probably see play, and might be legitimately good. It is a probable inclusion not only for R/G Landfall beatdown decks, but just a pretty good card for a Mono-Red beatdown deck to play at the two.

Makindi Sliderunner is usually going to hit for three or more damage per turn. It starts off as a 2/1 creature so “[i]t just can’t get that bad” (per Mike)… and will hit for three or four damage on many turns, depending on if you have a regular land or a fetchland to play pre-combat.

Speaking of fetchlands, unless you have one, Makindi Sliderunner will hit just as hard as a Plated Geopede with one landfall trigger (and hits harder than Plated Geopede when you don’t!)

Compare to our second preview card, Snapping Gnarlid:

Snapping Gnarlid
Snapping Gnarlid

For one thing, Snapping Gnarlid is a great answer to Twin Bolt… Kinda?

If you start on Scythe Leopard and follow up with Makindi Sliderunner, your R/G Landfall deck is going to be quite vulnerable to a Twin Bolt two-for-one on turn two. Playing Snapping Gnarlid on turn two instead is going to (at least) avoid the two-for-one right there.

Our two-person consensus is that — at least based on what we’ve seen so far — R/G Landfall is going to be a real deck!

Patrick and Michael, however, are a bit divided on which of the two preview cards is superior. Their points:

Mike likes the second point of toughness, in general, more than trample. This is particularly relevant on turns where you don’t have and landfall trigger, and when the opponent is trying to defend himself with Goblin tokens or Eldrazi Scions.

However!

Mike recognizes that because red doesn’t generally have as strong of creatures (on the fundamentals) red might appreciate Makindi Sliderunner more than green does Snapping Gnarlid.

For his part, Patrick gives the slight edge to the red version; among other things, it will probably be the more widely played of the two.

Our final exclusive preview: Pilgrim’s Eye!

Pilgrim's Eye
Pilgrim’s Eye

We guess this third preview card is largely just WotC trolling Mike (but that’s okay!)

Mike claims he doesn’t want to play Pilgrim’s Eye.

Unsurprisingly, it takes Patrick about 15 seconds to pull Mike back to the Church of Pilgrim’s Eye.

How?

Thopter Spy Network!

U/W Thopter Spy Network decks have a hard time finding playable artifacts to turn the Thopter Spy Network on to begin with; between Pilgrim’s Eye and Hangarback Walker, U/W has a great start in getting the [artifact] ball rolling.

In addition to our three exclusive preview cards — Makindi Sliderunner, Snapping Gnarlid, and Pilgrim’s Eye — the Top Level Podcast duo discuss more Battle for Zendikar mana bases, the Retreat cycle, and how to procedurally play your Undergrowth Champion.

Check out “Makindi Sliderunner! Snapping Gnarlid! Pilgrim’s Eye!” now:

Direct Download

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Battle Lands Are Completely Broken!

Kiora, Master of the Depths
While Patrick and Michael originally intended to focus on Kiora, Master of Depths this week, a “mail bag”-style rundown uncovered some amazing synergies between fetch lands and battle lands.

The Battle for Zendikar battle lands:

  • Prairie Stream (W/U)
  • Sunken Hollow (U/B)
  • Smoldering Marsh (B/R)
  • Cinder Glade (R/G)
  • Canopy Vista (G/W)

Check out the cool questions and comments that came up from our Top Level Podcast listeners on social media + the mana base interactions that will define the upcoming format in “Battle Lands Are Completely Broken!”

Matthew Corazzelli

Matthew pointed out that Silkwrap, Suspension Field, etc. can help you set up your Eldrazi. These kinds of white exile cards can help you buy time to get to your expensive cards, plus any “exile” fuel for Blight Herder is potentially welcome. Now, if your Silkwrap is destroyed by Dromoka’s Command, the opponent won’t even get his creature back!

Jamie Johnson

Jamie asked us to talk about Scythe Leopard…

Scythe Leopard

“[Scythe Leopard] might be even better than Steppe Lynx.”
-Patrick Chapin

While Scythe Leopard is less explosive than Steppe Lynx at its best, among other things, it can do damage on defense. On average, and over the course of many games, Scythe Leopard might outperform the white model on average.

Scythe Leopard got the ball rolling on fetch land + battle land mana bases…

“We haven’t seen synergies like these since Vivid Lands + Reflecting Pool.”
-Patrick Chapin

Mana bases inspired by this podcast…

Consider this potential (extreme) mana base:

2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire

1 Prairie Stream
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Cinder Glade
1 Canopy Vista

1 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp

You get:

  • 14 sources of blue
  • 15 sources of white
  • 17 sources of green
  • 17 sources of red
  • 15 sources of black

… Most of which will come into play untapped

or

4 Forest
4 Mounain

4 Cinder Glade

4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

You get:

  • 20 sources of green
  • 20 sources of red

… Almost all of which will come into play untapped

or

4 Sunken Hollow
4 Prairie Stream

4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand

3 Swamp
3 Plains
2 Island

2 Caves of Koilos
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon

You get:

  • 18 sources of blue
  • 17 sources of white
  • 17 sources of black

… Almost all of which will enter the battlefield untapped

Do you know who Abzan Aggro’s new best fried will be?

Flooded Strand!

Flooded Strand can find both Sunken Hollow and Canopy Vista (along with basic Plains), allowing it to find all three colors in Abzan (if by way of blue for black); you never actually have to tap for blue to get the value.

Here’s the key:
“Your Abzan Aggro deck is going to have Crackling Doom in it.”

In addition to Battle Lands Patrick and Michael spend a little time on new land Lumbering Falls…

Lumbering Falls
The alternative was you were going to gain 1 life from your Thornwood Falls?

Chris Beirnes

Chris asks about Nissa’s Renewal… Will this be a tool for Sultai Control to ramp into Ulamog or Ugin?

Patrick speculates on a couple of different kinds of players who will want to cast a Nissa’s Renewal.

Finally…

Ben Reardon

“Titan’s Presence means every deck can have an answer to Hangarback Walker.”

Does it?

All this and more Battle for Zendikar in “Battle Lands Are Completely Broken!”

Direct Download

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Abbot of Keral Keep in Modern

Abbot of Keral Keep

We’ve said it once: We’ve said it dozens of times probably.
Abbot of Keral Keep is like a red Snapcaster Mage

Abbot of Keral Keep is one of many cards from Magic Origins that is poised to make an impact in the Modern format.

What are some of the areas where Abbot of Keral Keep can be effective in Modern? How does it differ from Snapcaster Mage in some of the existing Modern shells?

Unlike Snapcaster Mage, Abbot of Keral keep does not combine well with permission spells. Not only does it not have flash, but flipping a permission spell with Abbot of Keral Keep will generally cause that card to brick.

BUT!

Abbot of Keral Keep has great potential synergy with proactive cards. Think about Abbot of Keral Keep flipping over, say… An Inquisition of Kozilek. The combination of cheap cards and card advantage — and cheap cards and prowess — are both synergistic and valuable.

How about a Naya Burn deck in Modern? Abbot of Keral Keep can hook up with the efficient burn spells available in Modern to give an aggressive deck some extra oomph.

Consider this Patrick Sullivan-inspired Modern Naya Burn deck:

Patrick-Patrick Naya Burn

4 Atarka’s Command
4 Boros Charm
3 Lightning Helix

4 Wild Nacatl

4 Abbot of Keral Keep
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Searing Blaze

4 Arid Mesa
2 Mountain
3 Sacred Foundry
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard
3 Dragon’s Claw
1 Lightning Helix
2 Ancient Grudge
4 Molten Rain
1 Skullcrack
4 Path to Exile

Abbot of Keral Keep is just one of several new Magic Origins cards that Patrick and Michael discuss in this episode; there are quite a few possible additions to Modern from this hot new set. Find out what the intrepid Top Level Podcast duo is thinking in “Abbot of Keral Keep in Modern”:

Direct Download

Want to hear more from these guys?

Patrick’s Magic: The Gathering Books

Michael’s Magic: The Gathering Books

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Hangarback Walker in Abzan Aggro

Hangarback Walker

“How good can a deck be when the most popular deck is your worst matchup?”
-Patrick Chapin

Hangarback Walker has been a key contributor to many decks since the release of Magic Origins in Standard…

  1. First it showed up in a U/W Control deck (enabling cards like Thopter Spy Network)
  2. At the Pro Tour it hooked up with Ensoul Artifact and Hardened Scales
  3. But today: Hangarback Walker is transforming Abzan Aggro!

Hangarback Walker showed up in multiple builds of Abzan Aggro in the Top 8 of Grand Prix London 2015, including the decks played by winner Fabrizio Anteri and finalist Matteo Moure

Hangarback Abzan by Fabrizio Anteri

4 Hangarback Walker

1 Hero’s Downfall
2 Ultimate Price

4 Abzan Charm
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
4 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Dromoka’s Command
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Siege Rhino
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

4 Den Protector
1 Warden of the First Tree

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

sideboard:
2 Self-Inflicted Wound
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Thoughtseize
1 Ultimate Price
1 Arashin Cleric
2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
1 Glare of Heresy
1 Surge of Righteousness
2 Tragic Arrogance

Hangarback Abzan by Matteo Moure

4 Hangarback Walker

2 Hero’s Downfall
3 Ultimate Price

2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

2 Abzan Charm
4 Anafenza, the Foremost
3 Dromoka’s Command
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Siege Rhino

2 Den Protector
2 Warden of the First Tree

2 Wingmate Roc

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

sideboard:
3 Herald of Torment
4 Thoughtseize
1 Ultimate Price
1 Dromoka’s Command
1 Unravel the Aether
2 Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
3 Tragic Arrogance

The defining component of the new breed of Abzan Aggro decks isn’t just the inclusion of Hangarback Walker… But also playing twenty-six lands (or as Patrick says, the number they were supposed to be playing all along).

“Hangarback Walker is TWO TIERS better than Rakshasha Deathdealer”
-Chapin

Everyone knows Hangarback Walker is a powerful card. But what makes Hangarback Walker so good in Abzan Aggro specifically?

  • It has a super good rate… Abzan Aggro is all about cards with great rates
  • Hangarback Walker lets Abzan Aggro afford to play a bigger game – like when Faeries draws Bitterblossom
  • Dromoka’s Command allows Abzan Aggro to escape Abzan Charm (so that you can still get the 1/1 Thopter tokens)
  • Tons of +1/+1 counter redundancy – Abzan Charm; Dromoka’s Command; Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, etc.

Michael and Patrick also discuss G/R Dragons, the concept of not playing new cards versus curating old cards, Bant Heroic and what might be great next week.

Check it out in “Hangarback Walker in Abzan Aggro”:

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