Worldwake Games Day – 4CLD
09 Mar 2010 | Dion Wong
After the successful 5k Qualifier, I decided to sling 4 Colour Land Destruction once more; hopefully at a larger event with better coverage. I played a very similar 75, just changing the manabase marginally.
Lands
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Glacial Fortress
4 Jungle Shrine
2 Forest
1 Rootbound Crag
2 Mountain
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Raging Ravine
1 Plains
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Seaside Citadel
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
Round 1 – Grixis Control
A fairly standard game 1 against control. I slow them down enough with disruption before sealing the deal with Sphinxes.
Sideboarding: None
Game 2, my opponent has decided to go for the creature plan. After eliminating my Jace, the Mind Sculptors and Ajani Veangeants, my opponent stabilises with Malakir Bloodwitch and his own Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
At this point we have the judge looking over us, about to call time. As we are looking through our decks, we notice that my opponent was playing with one of my Spreading Seas in his deck (we have the same sleeves). We alert the judge as time is called. The ruling: we both get a game loss, but this will take effect in our second round.
0-0-1
Round 2 – Emeria’s Pledge
I know what my opponent is playing, however, the game loss means I need to win the next 2 games in a row with no sideboarding for game 2. Monocoloured decks can prove troublesome as I cannot disrupt them well enough. Luckily though, I am on the play.I Lightning Bolt his early Steppe Lynx and stabilise with Ajani Veangeant and Sphinx of Jwar Isle. My opponent makes a minor misplay in cracking his Arid Mesa with 4 Plains and a Gargoyle Castle in play whilst I have a Tectonic Edge. Not very relevant when facing down Sphinx of Jwar Isle though.
Sideboarding: -4 Goblin Ruinblaster, -4 Spreading Seas. +4 Day of Judgment, +2 Chain Reaction, +2 Oblivion Ring.
My opponent has a slow start of turn 4 Ranger of Eos for 2 Steppe Lynx and the same play on turn 6. However, I don’t have much action either and my Ajani Veangeant Lightning Helixes his Ranger before becoming cat food. Before long my opponent has a board of 2 Steppe Lynx, Ranger of Eos, Knight of the White Orchid and a Soul Warden. I am taking a lot of damage and I have yet to see one of my 6 Wrath effects. I Brainstorm with Jace, the Mind Sculptor to go searching and find – nothing. I get beaten down to 11 as my opponent chooses to ignore my planeswalker. I draw for my turn and cast Explore. I attempt to Brainstorm again, hopefully digging 2 cards deeper will get me there, carefully leaving WW and RR untapped to cast my wrath effect. I mise and the 3rd card is Chain Reaction. I drop Sphinx afterwards for clear sailing.
1-0-1
Round 3 – 4 Colour Cascade
I am excited that my opponent is playing a deck with slightly shaky mana, all the better matchup for me. However, when he makes his first play of a 4/4 Knight of the Reliquary off a Captured Sunlight cascade, the Lightning Bolt in my hand looks sad and I proceed to not draw anything relevant to take down the growing Knight. Not that I have anything maindeck that can deal with it.
Sideboarding: -4 Goblin Ruinblaster, -4 Lightning Bolt. +4 Day of Judgment, +4 Rhox War Monk. (He was running a lot of basic lands)
I have the sick play of turn 3 Rhox War Monk followed by a turn 4 Ajani Veangeant. My Rhox War Monk gets hit by Path to Exile but I have enough tempo to get there.
I keep a hand of 2 Day of Judgment, 1 Noble Hierarch, 2 Misty Rainforest and a Jace, the Mind Sculptor. However, my deck refuses to give me a 3rd land and again I get overrun by Knight of the Reliquary.
1-1-1
Round 4 – URW Control
Piloting URW Control today is fellow T4er from the 5k Qualifier, Adam Gatt. In theory the matchup is good for me, but URW plays a diverse set of answers and threats. I also note that I need to win both my remaining rounds to make Top 8 as roughly 2 people at 3-2 will make it in. My opponent actually manages to fix my mana with his 2 Spreading Seas, allowing me to cast my own Spreading Seas and Sphinx of Jwar Isle with no basic Islands. He stumbles on mana, missing his 3rd land drop and a few bashes with the Sphinx and it’s onto game 2.
Sideboarding: None
This time we have fairer game. I manage to tempt my opponent into casting Spreading Seas on my Tectonic Edge on turn 3, so I have correct coloured mana for a Bloodbraid Elf. We trade a Goblin Ruinblaster and Calcite Snapper until he casts the mighty Baneslayer Angel. I manage to bounce it a few times to allow me to resolve my Sphinx of Jwar Isle and attack him to a low 10 life. After his Angel sticks, he holds it back to block, we reach a stalemate where neither of us can profitably attack. His only answer is to Cast Day of Judgment and trade in his Baneslayer Angel for my Sphinx. We play some draw-go and my opponents plays a certainly very frightening Calcite Snapper. However, a Bloodbraid Elf cascade into Noble Hierarch forces him to trade. Meanwhile I have shut my opponent completely off red mana (his Arid Mesa fetches up a plains after I have hit 3 Mountains with Spreading Seas). A fresh Bloodbraid cascading into a 2nd Noble Hierarch puts my opponent down to 4 life after a fetchland activation. My opponent untaps with plenty of mana available and casts Day of Judgment followed by Sphinx of Jwar Isle. I draw for my turn, rip a Goblin Ruinblaster, combined with the one in my hand and a Lightning bolt for game.
2-1-1
Round 5 – Jund without Explore/Rampant Growth
4CLD punishes people for stumbling on bad mana or even some bad mulligans. My opponent mulligans to 4 while I keep a hand of Goblin Ruinblaster and 2 Spreading Seas with the mana to cast it all.
Sideboarding: -4 Lightning Bolt -3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor. +4 Rhox War Monk, +3 Oblivion Ring.
A lot of the skill involved in the deck revolves around mulligan decisions. I mull a decent 7 of 3 land and 4 drops but no accelerants into a 1 land 6 card hand and finally into a strong 5 card hand. I manage turn 3 Rhox War Monk and I draw into gas in the form of a second Rhox War Monk (after the first got pulsed), Ajani Veangeant and a Sphinx of Jwar Isle whilst my opponent is stuck drawing land.
3-1-1
I make it into the top 8 with 10 points at 5th place. 1 person at 9 points makes it in. The top 8 consists of 3 Jund decks, 1 Boss Naya, 1 Eldrazi Green, 1 Bant, 1 BRW allies deck and my 4CLD.
Quarterfinals – Jund with Rampant Growth and Nighthawk
Game 1 is textbook. Despite casting Rampant Growth, the Jund deck is too far behind to mount any reasonable defence.
Sideboarding: -3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Lightning Bolt. +4 Rhox War Monk. (I keep in Lightning Bolts to deal with Nighthawks).
This game, we have switched roles and I am the control deck. However I tried to sideboard into a more aggressive package so I lose to multiple Bloodbraid Elves and 2 Vampire Nighthawks.
By this time all the other games have finished and all eyes are on this game. Interestingly if I win here, all the Jund decks will be out of the top 4. Turn 3 Rhox War Monk, turn 4 Tectonic Edge and turn 5 I rip the correct land to play Ajani. For one of the few times today, my Rhox War Monk manages to connect and my opponent attempts to Rampant Growth for a Swamp to complement his Forest and Swamp. Instead of shutting off his green, I shut off his black for Nighthawk and his chances. After the game, my opponent reveals his hand with triple Lightning Bolt.
Semifinals – Eldrazi Green
In playtesting this proved to be one of the worst matchups for my deck as a single Wolfbriar Elemental requires a wrath effect. My sole chance is relying on my sideboard and tight play. My opponent casts turn 2 Leatherback Baloth. I cast a Sphinx of Jwar Isle to block, but a timely Eldrazi Monument proves my demise.Sideboarding: -4 Spreading Seas, -4 Goblin Ruinblaster, -2 Tectonic Edge. +4 Day of Judgment, +4 Oblivion Ring, +2 Chain Reaction.
Mise! My opponent stumbles on mana and I resolve a Jace the Mind Sculptor. He never sees a 3rd land, but I still have to wipe the board. This just goes to show how resilient the deck can be.
My opponent this time manages 3 lands and holds on, dropping multiple Elvish Archdruids and Nissa’s Chosen. I resolve a Sphinx of Jwar Isle to his 4 other guys. A bounce from Jace followed by Chain Reaction makes it a one-sided affair.
Finals – BRW Allies
Now in each round in the top 8, my games have gone the longest, so I’m at a natural disadvantage as my opponents have seen my deck. I’m bewildered that the best deck of the day (Zvi’s Bant list) lost to this deck. Game 1 isn’t close as a slew of 2 mana allies including Bojuka Brigand are very fast and lethal.
Sideboarding: -4 Goblin Ruinblaster, -4 Spreading Seas. +4 Day of Judgment, +2 Chain Reaction, +2 Rhox War Monk.
Game 2 opens much the same, with the ally deck vomiting out Kazandu Blademasters. Stuck only on white mana, it seems to be doing pretty well. A Day of Judgment followed by double Sphinx of Jwar Isle ends the game.
In game 3 my opponent is stuck on white mana but manages consecutive Kazandu Blademasters. I Bloodbraid Elf into a Lightning Bolt to clear one. However I am still taking damage from the Blademaster as Kabira Evangel ensures it gets through for damage and I cannot lock it down with Ajani Veangeant. I lay a 2nd Elf and a Sphinx of Jwar Isle to stabilise, but an ally with 2 Kabira Evangels naming Green and Blue, get through for more than enough damage.
Conclusion
The deck is very skill intensive and piloting for 5 rounds of Swiss and a top 8 can be quite exhausting. Though today in a field of 24, I think the deck proved itself, beating many established archteypes of the Standard scene. And apparently the matchup against monocoloured decks isn’t completely hopeless.
Weaknesses?
Knight of the Reliquary makes me wish I played Day of Judgment over Lightning Bolt maindeck. Considering that Day of Judgment followed by Sphinx of Jwar Isle, a Bloodbraid Elf or with a planeswalker in play, means game that doesn’t seem like a completely farout idea.
Best things about the day?
Chain Reaction is usually a Wrath of God as most people don’t play around it. Sometimes it’s downright broken letting me save a Rhox War Monk or Sphinx of Jwar Isle. However, I would be careful playing more than 3 in case people start catching on to this card.
Explore is another strong card which early turn can put for a turn ahead and isn’t a completely horrible cascade target. Often the best hands in the deck are 2-3 land with Explore, Noble Hierarch or Spreading Seas with an aggressive 4 drop.
For discussion.