Title: GW: The Diverse Competitive Decks

Date Posted: Tue Oct/09/12 at 10:41pm

TheCaptain

Posts: 909
Joined: 13-Apr-11

Alright, I have to see the merit with Gericault on his position that UW is the top two color right now in terms of diversity and competitiveness. UW has always had a place in the hearts of the competitive-minded (and as soon as we lose Geist of Saint Traft, there will be a new UW house to take its place). It's got everything, control, card advantage, control, access to aggression, control.... Ok, so a lot of control coming out of these colors.

Now I don't know if I should listen to Brad Nelson when he said that control decks weren't going to be used now. Usually he's a source of good information, but then again, he was playing control at SCG Cincinnati last weekend. And if that tournament taught us anything, it's that GW are the colors to keep your eyes on.

Let's examine the top 32 for that tournament. Sure, most of the decks were Zombie Aggros, but GW made a showing, and it featured in so many of the decks there - Reanimators (typically WBG, sometimes WUB), GW midrange, GW aggro, Bant control, all made many appearances in the top 32, and (most) contain GW. Those deck types made up over %40 of the decks in the top 32, and are very diverse, despite pulling from the same manabase. So what decks does GW have access to?

Other than the those listed, GW still has access to some pretty disruptive decks. GW Midrange often utilizes the popular Thragtusk+Restoration angel "combo" (really, all green decks are using Thragtusk though). So let's expand on it - I present you with GW blink (also available in WUG if you ask nicely):

GW Blink
Creatures (26)
3 Acidic Slimes - Blink a couple of these and you can ruin your opponents manabase. Can't cast that entreat without those 3 whites, oh-so-popular miracle decks. Plus, wipe out the O-ring/Detention Sphere, or whatever other non creature threat comes your way.
1 Angel of Serenity - It was a house at SCG Cincinnati. So damn good.
2 Armada Wurm - Also pretty rough. Turn that Cloudshift into a 5/5 Trampler? Sign me up.
3 Borderland Ranger - Don't get mana screwed, don't waste your time drawing lands.
3 Centaur Healers - These bum out Zombie decks so much. Early they're throwing 2/2s and 2/1s at you, and this just stops them. Plus, the life gain draws in out until you hit that Thragtusk.
4 Elvish Visionarys - It's cheap, you get the card back, it can be blinked when you need to find a response. THey're sweet.
3 Fiend Hunter - Add in a cloudshift in response to it's trigger and you've exiled something permanently and another thing temporarily. If you don't know how, look up how to manipulate the stack.
4 Restoration Angel - The key to this deck, how can you not run 4 of?
3 Thragtusk - They're expensive alright! But I can see you running 4 if you want to acquire them all.

Non Creature (11)
1 Conjurer's Closet - Put that junk rare to good use! With the creatures above, this could be land fetch, card draw, life gain, exiling, permanent destruction, or token production. But only 1.
3 O-Rings - You need a response.
3 Selesnya Charm - Exile that fattie or drop a knight to kill that Zombie. Either way it can do some work.
4 Cloudshift - We're blinking cards remember? That's the deck, you need these.

Lands (23) - I know, its not 24, I'm running 4 Visionarys and 3 Borderland Rangers, cut me some slack
7 Forest
8 Plains
4 Sunpetal Groves
4 Temple Gardens

This deck playtests very very well. It's quite similar to GW midrange, but I like to think of it as a category of its own. I haven't developed it's sideboard yet, though I imagine it contains the usual (Rest in Peace, Grafdiggers Cage, Dryad Militant, Trostani, blah blah). I'll be posting the other GW decklists in days to come, but look for these other exciting decks:
-GW Life Gain Combo - There's a reason Trostani jumped up to $20 after SCG (this deck wasn't it though)
-GW Tokens - A little taste of Innistrad