Hello and welcome to the Shark Tank! I'm Todd Anderson, and I'll be your guide through the murky waters that surround you as you work your way through the tournament pool! If you don't know me, I'm a random Magic Online regular that happened to win States last year, which catapulted me towards greatness and a spot on the United States National Team. This year has been a long and winding road for me, with plenty of hiccups along the way. I qualified for Pro Tour: Austin on rating, and failed miserably there. After failing to accumulate enough Pro Points at Worlds to qualify for PT: San Diego, I've fallen off the wagon, and its back to square one. Now its time for me to get back up and join the fray! I'll keep you posted along the way, and hopefully we'll both learn something in the process.

I plan on writing about content specifically geared towards MOL, since it is my main source of Magic play. I am constantly playing drafts, constructed tournaments, and sealed decks in order to practice for larger events that can qualify me for the big leagues. However, Magic Online has recently developed PTQ's, which lets me have a shot almost twice a week at getting back on the train. With only a few more Zendikar Sealed PTQ's left, I'm looking to open a solid pool that will let me Top 8 in one of the monstrous 400+ person PTQ's that they've been running. I have yet to open a busted pool, but hopefully that one day will come soon. I've never been a fan of Sealed, since you have to get pretty lucky in larger tournaments in order to make Top 8 of a regular event such as a PTQ. It is much better for a Grand Prix, where you start off with Byes, and need to be X-2 or better to make the 2nd Day. The 2nd Day is usually drafting, which is much more skill intensive and allows for less variance. However, the Magic Online PTQ's are much like Grand Prix in size, but you must go X-1 to make Top 8 out of 9 or 10 rounds of play. Thus, it is absolutely necessary that you open a good sealed deck to have any hope of winning the tournament.

Moving on, I'd like to tell you what I want this column to be. With each day that I play, I hope to garner something out of it. I want to learn something new, figure out a particular matchup, or just get better at a certain aspect of my game. I'll try to detail my findings each go-around, so you can potentially learn from my mistakes, effectively cutting out the middle man. If I make the mistakes, then you won't have to! My main format of choice on Magic Online is Standard, since it has been the topic of choice, what with the StarCity Games $5K Opens and States being Standard. I've been playing more Standard than any other format, simply because it is what everyone else wants to play. I go where the crowd goes, because that is where it is easiest to find good competition and large prizes. It is literally impossible to make any sort of profit from a dead format, since no one plays it, or doesn't play it enough to warrant waiting around for an hour so that an 8-Man Constructed Queue for Pauper fills up. I play what is most likely to win me product. As an aside, Zendikar Block Constructed has grown a bit in popularity on MOL, so I plan to write a bit about that sometime in the near future as well.

However, today we'll be talking about Standard. The State Championships were held this past weekend, seeing me come very close to making Top 8 with Jund, yet falling just short at 9th Place. If you want to read my tournament report about it, you can see it on Statcitygames.com where I write a weekly column. I can't really duplicate content, but feel free to search it up! After a bit of bad luck and poor decisions, my day was ruined, but I was not to be down and out! I've picked myself up again, and went right back to battling on Magic Online all day Sunday. After doing poorly with Jund yet again in a 4-Round Daily Event, I decided it was time for a change. My friend Will Cruse recently won our Alabama States with a BGW "Junk" deck that simply plays incredible amounts of large threats that all warrant an answer, lest they bring a swift death. I'll be taking a look at this archetype, and brewing a version of my own for Magic Online Tournament purposes. BGW Junk is an archetype that is becoming more and more popular since they keep printing incredible threats at every mana cost. Cards like Knight of the Reliquary and Baneslayer Angel are way over the curve, and are the essence of a "power creep." Just compare Baneslayer Angel to Serra Angel, and you can see the difference. Sure, Serra Angel has Vigilance, but she is smaller and definitely doesn't have Lifelink. Over the last few years, Wizards has continually pushed the bar on creatures getting better and better (see Tarmogoyf), so that control players have a much harder time finding the correct ways to deal with these monsters. After trying for some time, they have effectively killed off Islands in Standard, and I fear they will not return for some time.

With Faeries gone and 5-Color Control all but dead, there is nothing really standing in the way of decks like BGW Junk to take control of a format. BGW Junk is similar to Jund is that it plays efficient creatures, but usually in a slow fashion, with cards that slowly but surely take control of a game. You run cards that cost a bit more than average, but have a much greater impact on the game. Planeswalkers are a perfect example of Mid-range cards, since they generally cost between 3-6, and can affect the game in very profitable ways, but in no way are aggressive. Elspeth, Knight Errant; Garruk Wildspeaker; and Nissa Revane are three of the format's most aggressive Planeswalkers, but are usually too clunky to be considered in a blitz-style aggressive strategy. People are starting to come around to Elspeth in most white decks, so that may not ring as true as it should. Angelic Blessing has never been a tournament card, and rarely a limited deck wanted one in the 40, but having a constant source of "free" Angelic Blessings that can potentially create 1/1 Soldiers makes for a truly inspiring card, even if it is "midrange."

Luis Scott-Vargas is relatively famous for stating that (and I'm paraphrasing) "Midrange is terrible. You try to be a control deck against the aggressive decks, and an aggro deck against control decks, yet you do neither one very well." While this may have been true in the past, most decks in the format are midrange, so the ultimate goal is to "out midrange the other midrange decks." I know it sounds weird, but trust me. Each turn, your goal is to tap out for bigger and better threats. If you present your opponent with too many threats, or just one threat larger than theirs, you can usually squeak out the win. The removal in the format is incredibly efficient, with Path to Exile, Lightning Bolt, and Maelstrom Pulse, than you just have to load up on your insane threats to beat those that your opponent presents. BGW Junk is perfect for doing this, since Green and White have the largest threats and a solid curve to boot. For reference, here is my decklist:

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Emeria Angel
2 Master of the Wild Hunt
4 Baneslayer Angel

3 Path to Exile
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Elspeth, Knight Errant

4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Sunpetal Grove
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Kabira Crossroads
4 Plains
6 Forest
1 Swamp

Sideboard:
4 Great Sable Stag
1 Path to Exile
3 Zealous Persecution
4 Luminarch Ascension
3 Wall of Reverence


As you can see, loading up on the ridiculous threats is something this deck does very well. Baneslayer Angel rounds out the curve at 5 mana, but you are casting sick threats along the way. Tidehollow Sculler (hereby known as Boatman) starts you out with a bit of disruption, but he is also a Lightning Rod for removal. If you take one of your opponent's two removal spells, they are usually forced to kill the Boatman in order to get back the card they lost. However, this will help you later on, since your larger threats will not be destroyed with the removal spell used to kill the Boatman. Additionally, if you are playing against a slower deck, or (god forbid) a control deck, then Boatman is actually incredible. He's a very underrated creature right now, and I think he really adds a different element to the deck that the "normal" Green/White decks don't have. Maelstrom Pulse is another fine addition to the Green/White shell, since it gives you a bit of depth against Planeswalkers, as well as Howling Mine decks. Lotus Cobra at two mana also gives you potentially explosive draws, and acts as a foil to the entire strategy behind Spreading Seas. If you stick an early Lotus Cobra, you should be fine for the rest of the game, even if they flood all of your lands with sea water.

At 3 mana, we have Knight of the Reliquary. This guy is pretty incredible, and makes the deck function. You have some cute tricks with Kabira Crossroads against the Mono-Red or Boros decks, as well as Gargoyle Castle as a creature that can break a stalemate, much like Treetop Village in Extended. He is a large monster that can help you accelerate into Baneslayer Angel, as well as trigger Lotus Cobra or Emeria Angel multiple times in a single turn.

Speaking of Emeria Angel, the 4-drop slot is full of incredible threats that are very hard to deal with. Master of the Wild Hunt like Garruk, except that it can kill opposing creatures if left unchecked. He gives you a bit of an edge against the other Green/White decks, and can win a game singlehandedly. Emeria Angel also poses an incredible threat, since you have 8 Fetchlands to "combo" with her, not to mention the ability to go crazy with Knight of the Reliquary online. To finish out the 4-Drop slot, we have Elspeth, Knight Errant. She singlehandedly gives the deck the depth it needs to fight any control deck, posing as a huge clock, or threat generator. If she ever gets to use her ultimate, few decks will be able to punch through your wall of Indestructible creatures. Emeria Angel combined with Elspeth's Ultimate insures that you will never lose to opposing Baneslayer Angels, nor Sphinx of Jwar Isle.

At 5 you have the obvious Baneslayer Angel. Cedric Phillips has advocated playing Conqueror's Pledge in this slot, since it combos well with Eldrazi Monument. I honestly believe that both of those cards are worse than Baneslayer Angel on their own, but together that combination is nearly unbeatable. Since you can't reliably have the two card "I win" combo, I'd rather opt for consistency and just ram a 5/5 Lifelike First Striker down their throats. In addition to being a monster, Baneslayer Angel can actually play defense. If you are facing down an army, Baneslayer Angel can singlehandedly halt an alpha strike. I don't really need to tell you why Baneslayer Angel is good, but I just need you to know just how good she is. There is a reason she has been rising over the $50 mark, and I don't see her falling in price anytime soon (barring the failure to reprint her in Magic 2011).

The sideboard is set up to fight against a few of the key matchups you should plan to face. Zealous Persecution is a great answer for Boros, since most of their creatures die to it if they are tapped out. Additionally, Wall of Reverence can put you out of a lethal Bushwhacker attack, and even more so when combined with Elspeth's +3/+3 ability. This matchup, as well as the MonoRed deck, are fairly tough matchups without these cards, so I would suggest keeping them in the board.

We also have Great Sable Stag in the sideboard instead of more popular answers like Celestial Purge for Jund. Stag randomly doubles up in matchups playing cards like Wall of Denial and Sphinx of Jwar Isle, and is a significant clock, where Purge would be a dead card. With everyone shying away from Putrid Leech, Great Sable Stag is proving much more efficient at actually winning the game than Celestial Purge. You can't beat Jund by playing the 1-for-1 game, so you must play threats that they can't deal with easily. Great Sable Stag basically maxes you out in this case, and lets you overwhelm the opponent before they can really get set up.

After building this deck on Magic Online, courtesy of the MTGOTraders.com Store, I decided to play in a 4-Round Premier Event. Here is the report:


Round 1 against Smaland playing MonoRed

Game 1 I lead out with Noble Hiearch, followed by a Knight of the Reliquary and Lotus Cobra. This lets me erupt with Emeria Angel, and finally topping it off with Baneslayer Angel on turn 4. During this time, he's playing Ball Lightnings, as well as Quenchable Fire. He gets me down to 4 life, but Baneslayer and Knights are more than enough for lethal in a very short window.

Game 2, I side in Walls of Reverence, and mulligan into a hand with Lotus Cobra, Emeria Angel, and Wall of Reverence with 3 lands. He kills the Cobra, but has no answer to the Wall on turn 4, and I get to a comfortable life total after landing a Baneslayer Angel, and targeting it with the Wall of Reverence.


Round 2 against msalmonsen playing MonoWhite

Game 1 he wins the roll and gets an aggressive draw with Steppe Lynx. I mulligan into a hand with Noble Hierarchs and land, which I keep in hopes of drawing gas. I draw a Baneslayer Angel, and get to work attacking with Noble Hierarchs. I play the Baneslayer Angel on Turn 3, and he doesn't play an answer. I attack him for 8 with Baneslayer and 3 triggers of Exalted. He plays a Ranger of Eos, but has 1 mana left up, and my Baneslayer gets Path to Exiled after I target it with +3/+3 from Elsepth, which would be lethal due to his fetchlands. Unfortunately, I drew no gas other than those two cards, and lose quickly to white dorks and Honor of the Pure.

Game 2 I keep a mediocre hand after another mulligan that allows me to cast Tidehollow Sculler on turn 2. However, I don't have a 3rd land, but if I draw any green source I'm golden, since I have 2 Knights of the Reliquary and a Lotus Cobra, as well as an Emeria Angel and Baneslayer after a few draws. However, I literally never draw another land, and he is able to pummel me with white dorks.


Round 3 against Aelizar playing Spread'Em!

Game 1 I lead off with a turn 2 Lotus Cobra, and am able to play spells even though he uses Spreading Seas and Convincing Mirage to wreck my lands. I play Elspeth, and he scoops when he never sees a 2nd white mana for Day of Judgment.

Game 2 I sideboarded incorrectly, and get destroyed by Rhox War Monks when I keep a mediocre hand on the draw that contained Luminarch Ascension. I figured he had no real clock, but he shows me otherwise and beats me to death with 3 Rhox War Monks and a Bloodbraid Elf, topped off with an Ajani Vengeant.

Game 3 I change up my sideboard plan, and go on the aggressive. I use Tidehollow Scullers to rip apart his hand, and Maelstrom Pulse to deal with his early Rhox War Monk. I use Sculler to take a Day of Judgment and another Sculler to take an Ajani Vengeant, to protect the original one. However, he gets incredibly lucky and topdecks another Day of Judgment when I have lethal threatening. After the sweeper, I play an Elspeth, and get back to work. He has no real way to fight through the tokens, and I eventually draw some more gas, including a Gargoyle Castle, and use Elspeth's Ultimate when she is at 9 counters. This allows me to threaten his Ajani Vengeant every turn without fear of a counter-attack or Wrath effect. He has no real way to get through my creatures, and I eventually overwhelm him.


Round 4 against Jund

Game 1 I roll him with a really fast Lotus Cobra draw. I use Emeria Angel in tandem with Knight of the Reliquary to make a million tokens, that I use to trade with Broodmate Dragons and their counterparts. Gargoyle Castle makes an appearance off of Knight of the Reliquary, and very large Knights eventually seal the deal.

Game 2 looks like I'm getting destroyed, but I finally stabilize with multiple Walls of Reverence. I draw 14 lands, but my opponent draws just as many, and I get up to around 40 life. He can't profitably attack, and I put him into lethal range with Emeria Angel and a token. He draws a Lightning Bolt, and another Terminate that he is forced to use on a token since it is lethal with my 2 Noble Hierarchs. He topdecks a Broodmate Dragon, but still can't punch through for much damage, and I topdeck a Baneslayer Angel on turn 20ish to take the match.


After the tournament, I learned a few things about the deck. I like it a lot and it seems very powerful. However, the manabase needs a lot of work. I'm looking to add Terramorphic Expanse to the manabase to make it more stable, but I'm not sure if that is entirely necessary. It might be better to just cut Black, but I think Terramorphic Expanse is probably the answer. Tidehollow Sculler and Maelstrom Pulse are definitely worth it.

This is only my 2nd article for Puremtgo, and I would like to hear your thoughts on the content, as well as the format in which I am writing. I tend to use Magic articles like a Blog full of helpful information and solid content. If you think I'm lacking in any area, or feel like you have a great idea for me, let me know! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for reading.

Todd Anderson
strong sad on MOL