Good Games 5k Qualifier 2 Standard Constructed Burwood– 4CLD
23 Feb 2010 | Dion Wong
With the reported demise of Red Deck Wins with the printing of Worldwake, I set out to make a new deck to play in the Standard scene. Here is the first version of 4 Colour Land Destruction I made up:
Lands
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Glacial Fortress
4 Jungle Shrine
1 Sunpetal Grove
3 Forest
1 Rootbound Crag
2 Mountain
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Tectonic Edge
Creatures
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Mold Shambler
4 Acidic Slime
Spells
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Spreading Seas
4 Ajani Vengeant
1 Chandra Nalaar
4 Convincing Mirage
2 AEther Tradewinds
Sideboard
4 Rhox War Monk
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
2 Chandra Nalaar
4 Burst Lightning
3 Day of Judgment
However after a lackluster 3-2, 2-2 at FNM and 3-2 at Good Games 5k Qualifier 2 Standard Constructed – Sydney, I decided to fix some problems with the deck. Upon Jack Ding’s suggestions that I should “cut the cute cards,” I came up with this more streamlined version:
Lands
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Glacial Fortress
4 Jungle Shrine
2 Forest
1 Rootbound Crag
3 Mountain
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Raging Ravine
1 Plains
1 Stirring Wildwood
Creatures
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
4 Noble Hierarch
Spells
4 Spreading Seas
4 Ajani Vengeant
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Explore
4 Lightning Bolt
Sideboard
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
4 Rhox War Monk
4 Day of Judgment
2 Chain Reaction
4 Oblivion Ring
The game plan now being to hopefully get ahead through land disruption or ramp and hit a Sphinx of Jwar Isle or let a planeswalker stick and ride the tempo. Post board, we have the option of hitting creatures and/or the ability to slam Rhox War Monks off Bloodbraid Elf cascades.
Sideboard explanation:
Pulling Day of Judgment out of the board is pretty nice as not many people will see it coming.
Rhox War Monk is a nice beatstick which lets me win races. Plus, it’s out of bolt range. Makes you wonder why it doesn’t see more play.
Chain Reaction is Day of Judgment 5-6 only – any more and opponents can play around it. Extra wraths are nice against the Eldrazi Green matchup. Also, having Sphinxes survive a wrath effect is nice.
Oblivion Ring superceded both Celestial Purge and Path to Exile for the ability to hit planeswalkers. The only downside is that it’s not very good against Jund.
After some tweaking to get the final deck, the first real test for this deck was the Good Games 5k Qualifier 2 Standard Constructed Burwood.
Due to the week 2 of the Extended week being on the same day, we had a turnout of only 12, which meant 4 rounds and a cut to top 4. The meta that day consisted of: URW Control, Eldrazi Green, BRW control, Vampires, Monowhite, Naya Lightsabre, Grixis Control, Bant, RG aggro, 2 Jund and my rogue 4CLD.
Round 1 – Naya Lightsabre
After a mulligan to 4, no deck really has a chance, especially if it stumbles on mana.
Sideboarding: -4 Lightning Bolt, +4 Day of Judgment
I figure Lightning bolt doesn’t actually kill a whole lot (Knight of the Reliquary is bigger usually and I’d rather a mass destruction over a bolt for dealing with Ranger of Eos and Bloodbraid Elf.)
Game 2 is a long drawn out affair. I manage to slow the deck down enough, but it still manages to land some swings with Behemoth Sledge and a Basilisk Collar. I get down to 8 while the Naya deck is on more than double my life. Basilisk Collar necessitates me to trade down with my Sphinx of Jwar Isle. However, after managing to wrath away the board (and a Sphinx), I am left with a Jace, the Mind Sculptor and an Ajani Veangeant in play. Some Brainstorming with Jace allows me to find some land destruction and I manage to lock my opponent out of white and red very late into the game. Apparently it’s never too late to kill some lands and my opponent is helpless to the onslaught of Bloodbraid Elves.
1-0
Round 2 – Jund with Leech
Pradeep Widana-Pathirana is a force to be reckoned with in Limited and Standard formats. With him packing one of the best decks, this is sure to be a tough matchup.
As in traditional Jund style, I get beaten down hard and fast by Putrid Leech and Bloodbraid Elf before I can stabilise.
Sideboarding: -4 Lightning Bolt, -3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +4 Rhox War Monk, +2 Day of Judgment, +1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
Game 2 I take some early beats from 2 Great Sable Stags and a Leech before I manage to clear the board with Day of Judgment. From there, Bloodbraid Elf and Goblin Ruinblaster cleanup nicely whilst incapacitating the Jund deck.
Game 3. I have the nuts hand. I manage to Spreading Seas his first 3 lands and I keep him down with 2 Tectonic Edge and 2 Goblin Ruinblasters. I think the only spell Pradeep cast was an Explore.
2-0
Round 3 – Jund
After finding out we are the only two players on 6 points, we ID.
2-0-1
Round 4 – URW Control.
IDing gets us into the Top 4 so we do it.
2-0-2
Top 4 Playoffs
The top 4 decks where:
Jim Bandas playing Monowhite, Daniel Calizaya-Jave playing Jund with Leech, Adam Gatt with URW Control and me playing rogue 4CLD.
Semifinals – Monowhite
Jim has a decent opener with Kazandu Blademaster on turns 2 and 3 and Knight of the White Orchid on turn 4. However, they are met by Ajani Veangeant and Lightning Bolt. In desperation my opponent clears the board and leaves me with a Jace. That however is enough to lock him out of the game as an Ajani joins him and my opponent is unable to stick a threat.
Sideboarding: -4 Spreading Seas, -4 Goblin Ruinblaster. +4 Rhox War Monk, +4 Day of Judgment.
Game 2 is an example of how aggressive this deck can be. Turn 3 Bloodbraid (off Noble Hierarch) into Rhox War Monk provides me with enough power for a turn 5 kill as my opponent stumbles on 3 lands.
Finals – Jund
Despite playing against a deck specifically designed to beat it, the Jund deck piloted by Daniel manages to beat the URW Control deck to the finals.
After mulliganing twice, I keep a hand of Jungle Shrine, 2x Noble Hierarch, Explore, Spreading seas. A hand with high potential, but also high risk. My first 2 Noble Hierarchs are killed before I manage to topdeck any relevant defence.
Sideboarding: -4 Lightning Bolt, -3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +4 Rhox War Monk, +2 Day of Judgment, +1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
After a turn 3 Goblin Ruinblaster off a Noble Hierarch, my opponent vows to kill all Noble Hierarchs he sees. However after a Turn 4 Bloodbraid, my opponent is too far behind to catch up.
Game 3. My turn 4 kicked Goblin Ruinblaster races against a Sprouting Thrinax as we both stumble on mana. I attempt to race with my Raging Ravine only to have it Lightning Bolted. My opponent manages to draw a 4th land and cast a Jace, whilst my hand of 2x Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Day of Judgment and Spreading Seas looks sad without blue mana. 2 Duresses later, I am down to 2 Sphinxes and 2 Rhox War Monk, as I die to an army of 3/3 elephants, with no blue mana.
4CLD is not an easy deck to pilot. It can be quite versatile but requires some hard mulliganing decisions. Often, especially against Jund, a hand of lands, Ajani Veangeant, Bloodbraid Elf, Goblin Ruinblaster may seem good, but should be mulliganned away for a more aggressive hand of Noble Hierarchs/Explore/Spreading Seas. Luckily, the deck is not too affected by a mulligan.
The deck is a tempo deck that really wants to hit a 4 drop by turn 3 with the possibility of land disruption game 1 and creature destruction game 2 onwards. However, as a 4 colour deck, the manabase can be a bit shaky and I’m sure that some changes can be made to improve the deck even more.
For discussion.