Alright dudes- I only have limited time to write this thing (“Real Life” is standing in front of me and making threatening gestures). Before we get started I’ve got to be honest, I am still learning this deck in this meta. I played a similar list at the PTQ in Indianapolis. It was running Gift Ungiven and Dread Return (Get it- Sac Thopter tokens –Ha ha), Polymorph, Iona and Beacon of Immortality. I liked the power of Iona but the re-animation suite was under-whelming at best.After Indy I went back to the drawing board. I thought about playing Fae but the deck seemed too “Fair”. Thopter Foundry / Sword of the Meek is simply the best thing that you can do with your mana in extended at the moment.
I tapped into the Interweb to find a list that I liked. I was looking for a list without Gifts Ungiven, Tezzeret or Cryptic Command. I think Gifts and Tezzeret are too “round-about” – I want to get to the point, not search my library over and over again. Muddle in the Mixture and draw spells are more than sufficient for me to find the combo. Cryptic Command is good, I dont think that you'll find anyone who says otherwise, but I don’t like it in a format, There are so many Mana Leaks and Muddle in the Mixtures floating around. People (including myself) come to rely on Cryptic Command as a crutch and it’s too easy to knock that crutch out from underneath you (for two mana, no less).
Ok, back to business, I got a little side tracked there. I found a deck list that I liked in Cedric Phillips' article, so, I jacked it. Let’s be honest, Cedric has more knowledge of the the metagame, I'm sure he plays more magic than me and he probably is better at it than me(you like how I put probably there- we all have egos right). There were no Gifts and no Tezzerets in his list– He did however have Cryptic Command but that was an easy fix. Minus three Cryptic Commands and plus two Polymorph and one Iona. I changed the manabase by adding a couple Mutavaults and a Tolaria West. I also cut the Pristine Angel from the sideboard and added more emphasis on the Polymorph plan with two Elspeth and a Polymorph. I was ready to rock!
The following deck list went 7-1 at the Lexington Kentucky PTQ – Enjoy!
Creatures
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Spells
4 Spell Snare
4 Thopter Foundry
4 Path to Exile
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Ancestral Vision
3 Sword of the Meek
3 Muddle in the Mixture
3 Mana Leak
3 Chrome Mox
3 Engineered Explosives
2 Polymorph
Lands
1 Marsh Flats
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
3 Plains
1 Watery Grave
1 Academy Ruins
3 Seat of Synod
2 Mutavault
1 Tolaria West
Sideboard
1 Polymorph
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
2 Negate
3 Shadow of Doubt
2 Celestial Purge
1 Echoing Truth
1 Threads of Disloyalty
3 Wrath of God
Note: I didn’t take notes so I will do my best to recollect the events of the matches. If any of my opponents read this, feel free to correct me.
Did you play a land this turn? (Round 1 GB Depths)
I was pretty excited when my opponent fetched for a forest, I don’t know why, there was just comfort in the fact that I wasn’t against playing blue. Once he played Into the North I knew that I was dealing with a Dark Depths deck. The first game I locked him out with Iona (Naming Black). I lost the second game because of a misplay. I had the choice of putting my Watery Grave into play untapped or tapped, I chose tapped. On his turn he played a Thoughtsieze which I am usually happy to let resolve, but this time I had a Path to Exile and a Spell Snare in hand. I figured that I could sacrifice a Mana Leak to keep my relevant spells and control the board after this turn. I counter the Thoughtseize, then he played his land for the turn (super tech!) and played a Vampire Hexmage. If I would have played the Watery Grave untapped then I could have Spell Snared the Hexmage.
Lesson Learned- Mana is more important than life in the Dark Depths matchup. Oh, and you should monitor things like- Did your opponent play a land, how many cards they have ECT – Ha Ha ha. By the way I won the third game with Iona (at least that's what I think it was).
Mutavault, almost got there! (Round 2 Thopter/ Sword)
This is a bad match up for my build. It was a race to combo and this guy trashed me in game one. Game two was epic. For the first half Trinket Mage and Mutavalt traded blows. I got him to one life when Tezzeret showed up and ruined all my fun.
Tezzeret is a game breaker in this match up, because I don’t have my own Tezzeret and my alternate win condition is not really relevant against him. I have been thinking of running a couple of Crovax, Ascendant Hero in the sideboard.
Iona = GG (Round 3 Mono White Aggro)
Over the course of our two games, I only seen Figure of Destiny, Knight of the Meadowgrain and Honor of the Pure. I probably would have seen a lot more if I hadn’t Iona locked him both games.
I am sorry that this is so short, but this was the round that I actually had time to go and get Arby’s! One thing to note about this deck is that typically your matches run very close to time- you need to play fast.
Do your worst! (Round 4 Elves!)This deck is crazy, as always. I wasn’t totally informed on the configuration of the new deck list. Now instead of the Wirewood Symbiote they use Cloudstone Curio to bounce dudes so that they can combo. I was very happy to see him mini-combo and then bounce his Regal Force. This put him in the worst position for the Iona lock that I put him in on the following Turn.
I sided in Wraths and the rest of the Polymorph plan (1 Polymorph, 2 Elspeth). After many Engineered Explosives and many elves hitting me in the face I fell into the red zone at about three life. He had an Umezawe’s Jitte and two Elves on the board when I played Polymorph. The Jitte can be trouble for Iona, but I had the path to gain the tempo I needed. I assembled the thopter-combo under the Shield of Emeria and then beat in.
I was talking to the guy afterward (he was a cool guy) and he said when I Polymorphed he thought “Do your worse!” but he didn’t expect Iona.
Hey! I play extended to get away from BBE! (Round 5 Zoo)
I don’t remember much of these games. He was running Punishing Fire and Bloodbraid Elf. The Foundry combo kept me in the game. Punishing Fire / Grove of the Burnwillows is good but not good enough once I got Foundry online.
Have you met my date? Her name is Lady Luck. (Round 6 Dredge)
In game one he was confused about what I was running the turn one Visions got him thinking Fae but then when I dropped the Hallowed Fountain and Pathed his Hedron Crab, he thought Merfolk. These misjudgments inspired him to tap out and run a Stinkweed Imp out. This allowed me to Path his Drowned Rusalka - shorly after I established the combo. The inspired a scoop.
I went through my sideboard, acting like I had tons of hate. I had pretty much nothing. We shuffled up for game 2 and I kept a Polymorph hand, hoping to lock him before his dreadges got out of hand. He tossed his hand back, 3 times, ouch. He played his land and passed the turn. We played this game until he got to discard a Grave-troll in his discard phase. I had an Elspeth and Mutuavault down .. so I swung into his Narcomeba with a 5/5 Flying Mutavault. He blocked, YIKES! – I guess I didn’t expect that to happen – Ha ha ha. I didn’t want him to get Zombies, so I Pathed my Mutavault before damage. Then Pathed a token to ramp; my new plan was just to hardcast the Iona which was now in my hand. I hard cased the Iona to his one land.
My goose is cooked! (Round 7 UB Dark Depths)
My opponent was a cool guy. You are highly favored in this matchup. You have to stay untapped and disrupt the opponents draw if you can. Dark Confidant is not good for you if you leave it online they will out draw your control. I keep the Paths for the tokens unless they play a Dark Confidant with 2 or less cards in hand. The best thing to do is to kill Bob and Hexmage with Engineered Explosives in game 1. I board them out for game 2.
This particular match was pretty uneventful. It went three games and I top deck sweet goodness in the form of Celestial Purge in game three, of course I didn’t let on. I sighed at my draw and said, “My goose is cooked, pass the turn.” – “EOT I will make a Token.” I looked at the token, and then I smiled, “EOT I will kill it with a Celestial Purge- Muhahhhahahahhah.”
Da Ja Vu (Round 8 UB Dark Depths)
This guy took himself way to serious. That kind of opponent who really believes that you are the enemy- I mean maybe it was just a long day and he was not having a good day. It just seemed like the guy hated me from the second I sat down. I got him with foundry combo, and then got him with Iona beats.
It’s ok to lose, I already made it to Top 8 (Top8 Zoo)
The first game he ram me over with Kird Ape and Burn. I was on the heel the whole game and I knew that I was going to get crushed after the second turn. Game 2 – Iona (on white) locked the board and laid the beats! Game three was epic. It was back and forth but his resources were dwindling and I had a Foundry on board and a Visions coming off the bench. My opponent cracked you are going to draw three lands.
Marsh Flats, Chrome Mox, Chrome Mox – Well at least I have a draw for the turn. Land. Well at least these Chrome Moxes will by me a turn as Foundry Fodder.
Land. At this point hopeful turned to ”Waiting for him to draw a burn spell.” And he did. I died to Zoo in a close game three.
Afterthoughts I learned quite a bit at this tournament but one of the biggest things that I was reminded of was the power of the Mulligan. I mulliganed aggressively and it worked out ninety percent of the time. As far as card choices, I don’t think I would change the main deck, everything was really good especially Ancestral Vision.
I guess now is a good time to talk about Polymorph. I feel like the Thopter / Sword combo can be “hated-out” to easily. The polymorph gives you a way to attack your opponent from a different angle. It seemed as if all day long my opponent was tapping out to deal with the Thopter combo and this made room for me to drop an Iona and soft-lock them. The combo has a small footprint since the deck is very Polymorph friendly (It’s a lot like my T2 Polymorph deck). You can always attach a polymorph to a Chrome Mox or my favorite, hard cast an Iona.
I added Mutavaults to support the polymorph strategy but this little guy was a champ all day long. I won a UB Depths game by beating down with a Mutavault and a single Thopter Token. It’s also very good in the mirror (until they get the combo).
The only thing about the deck that I would change is the sideboard. If I played a PTQ Tomorrow this is the sideboard that I would run.
1 Pulse of the Fields
2 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
1 Polymorph
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
2 Negate
2 Shadow of Doubt
2 Celestial Purge
3 Wrath of God
You might notice that I still scoop to dredge. I can get lucky or just Polymorph them fast, but it’s not going to be easy. I added a Pulse of the Fields for the Zoo matchup; I feel like I can beat most zoo matchups but the fast and focused ones with Tribal Flames are pretty rough. I may add two Pulse of the Fields. I also added two Crovax – This is a freakin HOUSE in the mirror. You can avoid their removal with his bounce ability or bounce him to combo. It also gives you a 4/4 beater which is all you need most of the time. Crovax is also good against the Faerie Menace that seems to be on the rise. I am still questioning if I need a third Polymoph in the board but I am leaning toward yes, since against a mono colored deck it’s more important to Morph than to Foundry combo.
I hope this post has been helpful. I recommend the deck to whoever wants to have it recommend to them. I will close with some props and slops.
Props
- Meeting and trading with Evan Erwin.
- Iona – For being a BAMF.
- Me for putting Polymorph on the Map – If only for a second.
- The tournament site for having a food court.
- My top 8 opponent for being cool. (This also includes all my cool opponents – you know who you are)
Slops
- Not being able to get a second foil Elspeth
- Threads of Disloyalty for Sucking
- My top 8 opponent for cursing my Ancestral Vision (You voodoo witch doctor!)
Thanks for reading!
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