Thursday Deck Tech: Goblins!

There comes a time in every mage’s life when they have to face a friend. For many, it comes early, at an 8-man FNM. For others, it happens during the deciding round of a GPT. Such was the situation a few weeks ago when Heebs and myself were battling through GPT Los Angeles at Ron’s Comic World. As we cleaved through the bracket, watching the number of people with our record dwindle, we knew it was inevitable. We were going to get paired. We were both just hoping that it wasn’t until round 6, when we could safely draw into the top 8.

As you know if you read last week’s column, it wasn’t to be. Heebs and I were paired up in Round 5, and my tokens deck stopped his onslaught as the only Red Deck Wins in the room. He dropped two more close rounds afterwards, and finished just outside the prizes at 4-3 overall.

On the other hand, his deck definitely hit on something important here. He hit on the same thing that Patrick Sullivan hit on when he Bolted his way to the top of the SCG Legacy Open: When other people were playing inbred metagame decks, and a 3/2 flyer was the biggest threat in the format, it was suddenly very reasonable to play a ton of burn spells and efficient creatures and get there by turning guys sideways.

Here’s his list, as he ran it that day.

Let’s take a look at some of the interesting departures from a ‘normal’ RDW in this deck, and why I think that they were critical to his level of success.

10 One Drops

Stormblood Berserker is so powerful that he actually forces you to skew your deck construction to accommodate the need to get in for damage on turn 2. To that end, Heebs opted for a slew of unorthodox one drops that each play a distinct and powerful role in the deck.

The least surprising choice comes in the form of Stromkirk Noble. With ‘effectively unblockable’ tagged on, the slith ability has always been a powerful one that lets him grow out of control quickly if unanswered. Blockers can be burned out of the way, leaving him to deal more and more damage every turn. Strangleroot Geist provides some issue, but with the addition of Pillar of Flame with AVR, I anticipate this to be much less of a problem.

Spikeshot Elder is another standby of modern RDW. Serving as a late game mana sync, the power-boosting effects in this deck make him a potent threat on his own.  Between Goblin Chieftain, Wardriver, and the sideboarded Sword of War and Peace, it’s not unreasonable to treat him as a consistent source of damage in the late game. He keeps the number to two because drawing multiples doesn’t get him anywhere.

Goblin Fireslinger is a choice that many weren’t sold on at first, but it does have a lot going for it. First, the damage is utterly unpreventable, and doesn’t involve combat. Fireslinger will continue his beats long after the opponent establishes some manner of board control. In that way, he serves as a pseudo-Shrine of Burning Rage, except that his damage is front loaded and doesn’t require you to hold up mana for fear of an Oblivion Ring. Sure, he’s more vulnerable to removal, but ultimately, you’re going to play so many threats over the course of the game that they’ll be hard pressed to keep up.

Tribal Subthemes

A hidden benefit of both Spikeshot Elder and Fireslinger is that they share a creature type, and do so with eight other creatures in the deck. While Heebs isn’t running subpar cards to keep to a theme, the spine of Goblins supports the whole deck and gives the otherwise wimpy red creatures a strong backbone that they can leverage for additional speed and power.

Who Has Time for Shrines?

When we were testing, we started to realize something. While Shrine was a house in any game that devolved into the super-late game, often contributing upwards of ten damage, it was also a liability. Much of the time, we couldn’t put enough pressure on with an active shrine because of the fear of being blown out by Oblivion Ring or  Ancient Grudge. We always needed to have the Shrine ready to go. Worse, they were terrible in a number of matchups. Against Delver, they would win the game by themselves – eventually – but surviving until turn 8-9 almost guaranteed a win anyway as Delver petered out of tricks designed to fight a very specific format. Ultimately, Shrine was always too slow. The game was either over before it was needed, or was never given enough time to take over

Removing Shrines opened up spots that we could use to help other matchups, and more importantly, let loose the floodgates without throttling the deck.

Top End Titans

While RDW hasn’t traditionally played Titans of any sort, Heebs did add in two of the premiere 4-drops in the format. Koth has proven himself against Control time and again, providing 4 hasty damage that could only be dealt with at instant speed. While his ultimate is rarely relevant, occasionally, you can win the game solely on the back of turning your mountains into Gut Shots.

The other four we’re playing, and significantly more powerful at that, is Hellrider. If you’ve never played with Hellrider in an aggressive deck, do yourself a favor and do it, because it feels like Cheating – Opponent Violation. Some poor control player is sitting there, watching your field of 1/1’s, mentally calculating that he doesn’t need to cast Day of Judgment yet – he’s still on 15! You can’t deal more than 6 with your three measley creatures. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a wild Hellrider appears.

“Alright, maybe 9 damage. Oh, he has a triggered ability. 12 then. That’s getting pretty scary.”

Then you realize that he can top deck virtually half his deck and murder you on the spot, Day of Judgment or not. That’s terrifying.

Things get even more ridiculous when there’s two of them.

Torch Tossing For Fun and Profit

When we were wrapping up the last few cards, Heebs noticed a recurring theme in his previous games.

“It feels like the only thing I lose to is Wurmcoil Engine and Sword of War and Peace.”

He needed an answer to artifacts, but in a deck as aggressive as this, we didn’t want to splash green for ancient grudge – weakening Koth and decreasing the density of threats in the deck. We needed a mono red answer that was aggressively costed, but could also handle an artifact in a pinch. Manic Vandal fit the bill, but his cost seemed a bit high for the aggressive curve we wanted. Torch Fiend provided everything we needed at the same reasonable cost. We slotted a couple of Vandals into the sideboard for good measure though.

Fight Everything with Fire

One constant for burn decks nowadays is a burn package. The metagame at the time was heavily favoring aggressive decks – between RG aggro, Delver, Zombies and Humans making up the majority of the field. Fun fact, almost every creature in all of those decks gets crushed by Arc Trail. As opposed to many recent Red Decks, the burn package here is for blocker-denial, pushing through your attackers until it’s safe to throw it at their head – not an all in burn-you-out plan. Incinerate makes an appearance as a more efficient alternative to Brimstone Volley. The extra one mana actually does matter a lot.

Moving Forward

This list was refined over a ton of testing, and it performed extremely well over the course of the day. The games he lost were close. I can’t speak for some of his earlier opponents, but I know that my survival in game two involved me gaining upwards of forty life to outpace his attacks. I ended below ten. This deck has a remarkable to abuse any deck not running board wipes, and it’s fast enough to burn through those that have them.

I spoke to Heebs about changes that he’s planning on making to the deck, and he tentatively decided on the following.

+2 Goblin Grenade, -2 Incinerate

I’ll just quote Heebs on this one: “The biggest problem I had was Hero of Bladehold, flat out. Goblin Grenade makes it possible to kiss that bitch goodbye. My 2nd biggest problem was leaving my opponent on 5 or less life with nothing to seal the deal. Guess what fixes that?”

+2 Grim Lavamancer, -2 Koth of the Hammer

While I don’t have a quote here, I will note that Koth was consistently lackluster in any non-control matchup. Especially with the number of flyers in the format, it’s relatively difficult to keep him alive through any focused assault. Grim Lavamancers provide extra gas for the deck’s reach, a more consistent Stormblood Berserker, and (with the addition of Goblin Grenades) ammunition for his flame-hurling ways should be plentiful.

Some other cards he’s considering are Bonfire of the Damned (in the sideboard against other creature decks, because it not only breaks open the stalemate, but also acts as burn to the face simultaneously.) When asked about Vexing Devil, the hard truth was simple – four damage was good, but it’s not worth the loss of board presence that you suffer because of it. I would err away from playing him in Standard – though I think he clearly has a home in Legacy Burn.

Other options for the deck include splashing for another color now that Koth is gone. Green seems an obvious option, for Kessig Wolf Run primarily, and possibly Wild Hunger (which seems absurd in conjunction with Spikeshot Elder).

While it may be underrepresented recently, the metagame is bent very much right now towards fighting itself. That makes it an ideal time for a powerful linear strategy like Goblins/RDW to take the field by storm.


Next week, we'll take a look at a spicy new brew for AVR. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, I'd be happy to answer them either here - or in the Reddit thread for the post. Feel free to chime in if you think there's a deck you'd like me to look at, and I'd be more than happy to analyze and suggest possible avenues to explore.

The Sound of Wings

Innistrad is not a kind world.

Once, the Cathars, holy knights in the service of Avacyn the Archangel, roamed the countryside, giving blessings to the faithful, strengthening wards, and holding back the darkness. Now, it is all they can do to draw breath. The wards diminish, children are stolen from their beds,  and the shadows encroach upon all they held dear. Even mighty Avacyn, Archangel of Hope, and her countless winged flights of angels have fled or worse.

For those who live on Innistrad, the twilight world has gotten yet darker.

“Run, Stephen!” screamed his partner. The voice was a high frantic cry, brought of desperation. “Run!!”

Stephen was already gone, sprinting through the underbrush at breakneck speed. His heart pounded in his chest, moving as quickly as his thoughts. They had been out too far. Two villagers murdered in the last fortnight, and the previous night, a child missing. How could they have done anything else? Stephan had led the pair into the woods – searching for the young boy. His companion was a cathar in training, fresh from the Elgauld grounds. His name was Enval.

Screams pierced the dusk and Stephen checked his thoughts:  His name had been Enval. The snarls and howls of the pack left no doubt in his mind that Enval’s remains would never be recovered. So young.

Avacyn save us. He whispered the prayer as he darted between two bushes and onto a well-worn path. Avacyn save me! They had passed the border post nearly an hour earlier – into the Kessig Wilds. Neither of them had given any thought to turning back – there was a child to save! How could they have done anything else!

Enval’s screams died off, and moments later, the pack caught up to him. It was subtle at first: a flicker in the brush, visible only through the corner of his eye. Then an idle growl from his left. Stephen’s muscles burned, threatening to give way, but fear kept them moving, and a small miracle kept his footing sure as he careened through the forest.

Anything but the wolves, he prayed. Oh Avacyn, I don’t want to be killed. He remembered the descriptions of werewolf attacks that he’d learned about – how to recognize the signs of someone killed by one of the Cursed, how to know if you were dealing with Krallenhorde or Monodren.  How to tell if someone had been turned. Which parts of the body were safe to bury when the desiccated corpses were found.

Not like that. Not like this. He felt frenzied tears rushing down his face as the pack closed in around him.

Innistrad is not a kind world.

Then, he heard it. A single strong beat – like a bird’s wings but deeper, stronger. He’d heard tell of the sound before – during his training. They said that in years past, when Angels flew into battle alongside man, that the thrum of their wings provided a natural drumbeat for marching. There! There it was again, the deep, rumbling sound of enormous wings flapping against the cooling night air.

The wolves seemed to balk for an instant, and Stephen kept on the path as quickly as he could. In the woods, there was a chance that the holy being couldn’t even see him. He needed to make for the field – once he was in the open, the angel would surely see him. He might be able to go home – he might be able to live to see another day!

That kernel of hope took hold in Stephen’s chest as he ran. The wolves tightened their noose, but even as they did, he realized that they wouldn’t be able to stop him before the tree line. The wings beat louder now, closer. His savior, no doubt, flying just overhead. The wolves’ howls echoed, high-pitched, over the basso beat of the wings, an unholy symphony. The meaning was unmistakable: Follow him. Kill the man.

He burst from the trees and onto the open plains. The wolves were only half a dozen steps behind him.

“Avacyn!” he screamed with a breath he didn’t realize that he’d been holding. Every one of his limbs felt like molten steel. The wing beats grew closer and closer. He ran, and he listened, and he hoped. Eyes closed with panic, he tripped over an errant stone.

And then he felt the wind from the creature as it landed, heavy upon the ground. He heard the wolves all around him, frenzied with their kill.

And then, silence.

Stephan looked up at the source of the wing beats and felt every ounce of composure he’d cultivated over his life melt away. He felt the dread terror in his veins bleed away to icy resignation. Even the werewolves around him stared in fear, falling to their knees as they realized, as Stephan did, that Angels were not the only beings on Innistrad that flew.

The dragon’s wings unfurled majestically, dozens of feet wide. Its skin seemed to be made of some infernal metal, and its eyes burnt with shadow and flame. It opened its mouth and let out a roar that shook the whole plain. Like an earthquake made manifest, he felt the shock deep in his bones, rumbling there. Stephen closed his eyes against what he knew was his end. He felt the heat rise as the dragon called on ancient magics. Its mouth snapped open and a torrent of flame poured out, engulfing the wolves and Stephen alike.

The only mercy afforded him was that he only felt the flames for a few searing moments before his life was scorched from his flesh. The dragon roared in triumph.

Innistrad is not a kind place.

2nd at GPT Los Angeles with BW Tokens

Hey everyone. It’s been a while since I’ve done a tournament report around here, but I have had a pretty significant tournament since then. Two weekends ago, for the last week of INN-DKA Standard before the release of Avacyn Restored, I traveled with my friend Heebs to Ron’s Comic World where they were holding a Grand Prix Trial for GP Los Angeles.

Now, disclaimer, I had no intention of actually going to Los Angeles, but the owner of the shop is a great guy that cares about growing the community and providing the best experience to the players. To that end, he was trying to get 75 people in the store, to help them qualify for running PTQs and other major events. As a prospective grinder-to-be, I’m more than happy to help them out with this. Making the tournament free sure didn’t hurt.

We hit 75 people by the skin of our teeth, and so that’s another Achievement Unlocked for Ron’s. Congratulations to the store for running a quality event – including nearly two cases in prizes. The top 4 walked out of the store with 2 booster boxes each, plus other prizes down to 16th place. If you’re ever in the middle-NJ area, seriously consider giving Ron’s a shot.

Heebs and I arrived a couple of minutes early for the tournament. I was on a pretty standard B/W tokens list. In the car on the way there, I had a brief moment of panic and texted Heebs the following.

“Hey, could you bring your Champions of the Parish?”

I’d been running without them so far, preferring to have a beefier top end, but the more I thought about the format’s evolution, the more I was convinced that playing a virtual Wild Nacatl couldn’t possibly be the wrong choice. Worst case, it provided an early blocker that would help me stall for the Lingering Souls + Multiple Anthem endgame.

I’ll go more in depth as to the specific choices as they come up in matches, but here’s the list that I played.

As for Heebs, he decided to be the only true man in the room and sleeved up a Goblins-themed RDW that had been testing very well. We’ll get back to that.

We get the word that we’ll be playing 7 rounds, followed by a Top 8. The first round begins and I sit down with more than a little bit of nerves grinding at me.

I’m going to be honest here. I had been on a tear – getting a Top 4 finish at a GPT and a SCG IQ Top 8 within a week of each other, winning the fairly cutthroat DKA Game Day, not to mention finishing in the Top 8 split at my DKA prerelease, and winning a couple of FNM events. I feel like my Magic game has never been stronger. However, since all of that a couple of months ago, I haven’t been able to post a winning record for anything. Part of that could be deck choice – I’ve been running a Naya aggro list that just didn’t have enough power to punch through to a deck with midgame presence, but it had translated over to limited as well, and I generally wasn’t happy. This tournament was going to be my first time back on Tokens in a couple months – and I admittedly hadn’t tested this version at all.

Round 1 – UB Zombies

This match starts out as well as I could possibly hope – I win the die roll and start out with the Champion > Gather draw. His single Gravecrawler matches up extremely poorly against it, and his Geralf’s Messenger meets an Oblivion Ring, clearing the board and letting me beat in for a ton of damage once I get an anthem on the board. Champion deals more than 12 damage by itself. I feel immediately vindicated by my choice to include him in the deck.

As we’re shuffling up for game two after a fairly quick scoop, Heebs walks over.

“How’s your match going?”

“Oh,” he said, looking a little confused. “It’s over. I won.”

“Goblins, right. What’d you play?

Blue/Black Zombies.”

“2-0?”

“Yep.”

My opponent looked worried at that. We shuffled up and he took game 2 after I mulliganed and ate a couple of bad removal spells. Game three sees him stick on two mana and he just can’t cast anything quickly enough – I win the race handily.

1-0   (2-0 in games)

Round 2 – UW Delver

Game one goes to me off his mulligan, despite the turn one delver flip on the play. He can’t quite muster any real offence once I get an intangible virtue and a few flyers online. I’m very careful to double-block so he can’t use his vapor snags to get 2 for 1’s everywhere. Eventually, I drop a Hero of Bladehold and a single unimpeded swing tilts the game in my favor.

I’m going through my sideboard and seeing nothing useful, so after a moment’s consideration, I took some advice from Patrick Sullivan – master of Legacy (and other types of) Burn. “My favorite sideboard plan with Burn is to just present my original sixty.”

I hand the deck over to him and he crooks an eye at me.

“No sideboard?”

“Not exactly a matchup that I have much against.”

“You’re probably pretty favored.”

That may be true, but my mulligan to five dooms me before the game even starts. He crushes me with a turn one Delver flip (How does that keep happening?), backed up by enough Mana Leak action to keep me locked down until I’m virtually out of threats.

Heebs walks over.

“How’s it going?”

“I beat some Green/White thing.”

“What was he playing?”

“Just good things. Hero. Thrun. Some planeswalkers.”

“Township Tokens?”

“Oh yea. He had one of those.”

“Nice. Goblins getting there?”

“Yep.”

Heebs walks away so I can start my third game (Look ma! Still no sideboard!) and my opponent leans over to me, glancing at Heebs across the shop.

“Is he really playing Goblins?”

“Yea, it’s pretty sweet.”

“I am scared shitless of that deck. I don’t think I can do anything about it.”

I laughed.

“Seriously! What can I do? Vapor Snag a Goblin Chieftan? That seems terrible.”

Game three goes my way after a turn 2 Honor of the Pure buffs my Champion and I’m able to grind out through a Sword of War and Peace with Vault of the Archangel.

2-0   (4-1 in games)

Round 3 – Esper Control

The guy sits down and rolls out one of those playmats. You know, the one that proudly reads “GP Somewhere Far Away.” He’s got a bunch of Top 8 pins from everything, and he shuffles like a Vegas pro.

“Doing well so far?”

“Not bad,” he shrugs. “You?”

I shrug. Seems like things are working out pretty well. Deck running well?”

“So far.”

I guess the wheels fall off everyone sometime. Luckily, not this round for me. I crush him in two games. In the second, he throws everything and the kitchen sink at me. Recurring a ratchet bomb off a Sun Titan, resolving an Elesh Norn, but it doesn’t help. Both games are won off the back of removing his Oblivion Ring to free an anthem and alpha strike.

It’s around this point that I realize one of the issues with my sideboard – it hasn’t been significantly updated since this deck was Junk Tokens (B/W/G). As a result, the Ray of Revelation in the sideboard have no green mana to fuel their flashback. Man, did I feel stupid realizing that. I hoped it wouldn’t be relevant.

My opponent sighs after the round and smiles at me while extending the hand. “You know, I played in PT Honolulu. I guess today’s just not my day.”

Firs t off, nice guy. Shook my hand, looked me in the eye, and genuinely didn’t complain about his loss. Also gave me the biggest ego boost of the day.

I walk over to Heebs. He smiles, announces “Delver, 2-0. Goblins rule.”

“I beat a Pro Tour player.”

The day appears to be going pretty well so far.

3-0   (6-1 in games)

Round 4: UW Delver

I’m paired against Lance, who’s from a shop that I play at on occasion. He’s a very solid mechanical player, but I decide to be daring with my sideboarding choices, actually choosing to sideboard this time. I realize that the only way he’s going to beat me is with a turn 1 delver flip, so I side in insurance against that eventuality. I’m paid back with Timely Reinforcements for full value in games 2 and 3. The games are close, but I edge him out in game 3 because Vault of the Archangel is incredible.

Heebs goes against an Esper Control player and wins 2-1.

As I'm walking past a couple of people, I hear someone lamenting their loss.
"I'm going to need to win out from here to even have a chance."
"Look at the bright side man, at least you can't go against that Red Deck."
There was only one mono-red deck at the tournament. Goblins striking the fear into people's hearts all over the place.

4-0   (8-2 in games). Heebs has the same record.

Round 5: Heebs with Goblins

It was bound to happen eventually. It's just a shame that it happened now. One round later, and we probably would have been able to shake hands and safely draw into top-8. We’re seriously considering drawing here anyway to give both of us two chances at a win-and-in, but I think we screwed up the math and decided to end up playing it out. As is, a win here locks one of us for Top 8.

Both games go more or less the same, and it regrettably isn’t close. His Goblin deck preys on a ton of decks that have fairly fragile early games. Being cute with a delver, or a single creature defending you, works in the majority of cases, but being able to go Goblin Chieftan > Hellrider is petrifying. It’s significantly less impressive when there’s a veritable wall of vigilant flyers on the other side, which periodically have lifelink.

Timely Reinforcements makes it a lot worse in game 2, and I win despite the resolved Sword of War and Peace on his side of the feel.

5-0   (10-2 in games)

Round 6 and 7:

I draw both of these rounds to lock myself for top 8. I was going to play round 7 to try and mess with the numbers a little more and give Heebs a better chance after he lost his round 6 match, but unfortunately for him, we end up with an awkward break that only guarantees my spot if I draw. Hopefully, in a perfect world, we’ll stop having double-draw situations soon. Regardless, Heebs ends up losing his 7th round to a Hero of Bladehold + Geist of St. Traft + Honor of the Pure swing.

Quick: Calculate how much damage that is! The math got pretty amusing.

5-0-2 (10-2 in games)

Top 8: BR Zombies

Two people decline the ‘one box per person’ split, which was unfortunate. I’m already tired and I’d rather be getting to our friend’s house. There’s dinner waiting there, and frankly, I don’t want to end up losing once and going home with 9 packs to show for it.

“Blackcleave Cliffs, Gravecrawler, go.”

Red/Black Zombies. God damnit. I like this deck.

I get beaten down to 5 life, holding my breath and hoping that he doesn’t have Brimstone Volleys in his list. I end up forcing him to sacrifice his whole team to save a Falkenrath Aristocrat, which I eventually Oblivion Ring, but he’s still got me on a significant clock once he plays a Highborn Ghoul. A well-timed second Oblivion Ring stalls the turn I need for my flyers to get the job done.

Game two is even closer. I go to two life before Vault of the Archangel comes online. I lean on it heavily, gaining 8 per turn and still only barely keeping my head above water. He dealt over 60 damage to me that game and I ended up winning on 13 life. Some lands are just awesome.

He shHe

He shook my hand and we were informed that there would be a Top 4 split - the dissenters had either changed their mind or lost.

I walked out with two boxes – one mixed foreign cards, the other English Innistrad. I had a blast with the event, and I'll absolutely be going to further events that are run here. Here's hoping that they get the ability to run PTQ's and such, because I'd be more than happy to give them my money.

Final Result:  6-0-2 (12-2 in games)

Tuesday Lore: Light and Flame

The innocents screamed, and Gisela answered. A single sword stroke – unwavering and true – bisected the demon from head to thigh. Black mana coursed out of the husk as it dissolved into the night.

“Goldnight!” she shouted from the town square, her voice echoing out to the fields. “To me!” They had been fighting for hours, and the fighting only just begun. Her troops – Cathars and priests, archmages and angels – began to filter into the square. Within minutes, they were building the perimeter. Refugees helped fight the fires that had engulfed half the village. The shadows that had besieged the hamlet swarmed, but none dared cross the defenders.

This fight was different. For months, they had been waging a losing battle. Avacyn’s imprisonment within the Helvault had driven the Flights into hiding. Human magics had weakened, and even Avacyn’s own holy wards faltered. Hundreds of villages across Gavony, Nephalia, and Kessig had been lost to the darkness.

No more.

Avacyn’s restoration had brought with it more than mere power. It brought renewed resolve. They fought with the  With a quick glance across the assembled warriors stirred something in Gisela that she hadn’t felt since…

We’re winning.

The thought scarcely crossed her mind before she dismissed it. People were dead – and the demon attack was still potent, if broken – no doubt orchestrated by one of the greater demons.  It needed to be handled if the horde was to be defeated. Gisela’s hand rested upon the runic longblade at her side.  One of the Cathars looked up to her.

“Lady Gisela,” he bowed. “Will you take the field?”

“I believe that I shall.” She said, her lips curving into a smile.

---

Her blade whirled, intercepting claws and spines. She rolled her wrist and stepped into the attack, cleaving through flesh and bone. No sooner than she felt the attack connect, she was moving into a second strike. She cleaves through the horde as if she was wading through a creek – barely slowed by their attacks.

She was Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Chosen of Avacyn. The Archangel had chosen her to be the sworn sword of the Angels. Let the Herons and Alabasters issue their wards and pray for spirits. Goldnight would do as Goldnight had always done. Fight, and win.

Magic: Making Miracles Matter

“I’ve got one out,” he announces suddenly on his opponents turn. Game three with lethal damage coming in the following turn. There’s a dozen people crowding around, waiting for the last match to decide the PTQ. To one, a blue envelope and a trip to Spain. To the other, a handshake and a pat on the back.

“What?” his opponent asks, confused.

“One out in the deck. One card that beats you.” He looks down at the stack of cards. “One Blight Dragon.”

His opponent looks at the board. No flyers to speak of, and only a Doom Blade in hand. With most of a dozen swamps in play, and a Lashwrithe, the Dragon would attack for the full ten infect – a veritable one-shot.

He’s got maybe forty cards left in his library. Two percent odds. Two and a half, maybe.

“So draw the card.”

He'd worked so hard to get here. Nine grueling rounds of play. Dozens of hours of practice and tuning his deck. He knew every card, picked and tested each one. He was up half the night agonizing about a last-minute switch. He sleeved it up even though everyone told him he was wrong. He trusted his deck then.

He places his hand on top of the deck, takes a deep breath, and whispers, practically praying.

“Just one time, deck. Just one time.”

He flips the card.

-----

Over the last few days, there’s been a lot of talk about a new mechanic that’s coming out with Avacyn Restored. That mechanic is Miracle.

 

If you’ll excuse the lore nut in me for a moment, I adore this mechanic. Magic lore is full of moments like this. The sudden turn and twist that overturns everything we know. The moment when we realize that, maybe, despite the odds, we can do this. It distills everything in the game to one critical point where everything hangs in the balance.

“What is Urza doing with that Sylex?”

“Is the Legacy powerful enough to defeat Yawgmoth, manifest upon Dominaria?”

“What’s happening to the Eye of Ugin?”

“Does Thalia sacrifice her men, or the Helvault?”

Miracle tells us everything that we need to know. When you’re on your last topdeck, knowing that nothing in the world could save you, and suddenly, Time Walk appears. Not a five mana time walk imitation. Not a variant with buyback. Honest to god, two mana, take another turn. You get a breath of fresh air, an extra untap, cast one extra spell, and dig yourself back from the precipice.

It’s hard to call that anything but a miracle.

The detractors from this mechanic have a point. Magic is designed to be a skill-intensive game. Giving more power to random elements like the draw stew doesn’t increase the skill required to be good at it. Any chump could top deck four Thunderous Wrath and beat the best player in the world. There are issues with the mechanic being extraordinarily swingy. When draws such a huge role in a game, it’s easy to get frustrated by the ‘run bads’ or to lose a game because of sheer luck.

But you've been there - that situation when you're drawing dead. You hate that feeling. Everyone hates that feeling. How much better is it to play a game when you're behind, but you've got outs. If we didn't want any randomness, we'd play chess. Every top deck is a thrill. Did I find it? Did I get there? You know that you probably won't find it, but every so often...

There is a quote on my desk. I feel like it distills this down to a single line.

“When something isn’t supposed to happen, but it does, that’s magic.”

So, is this much variance good for the game? Certainly, it’s going to lead to blowouts. It’s going to lead to a sudden reversal at a critical moment. It’s going to make everyone peel their eyes on the top of the deck when that last draw happens – hoping, praying.

It’s going to cause upsets. It’s going to make people talk about it. And, sure, while someone might be a little sour about losing the PTQ to the lucky topdeck, someone else is going to be on a cloud because they pulled the card, won, and ended up at a Pro Tour.

“I’m going to Hawaii!”

“I’m going to Spain!”

 “I’m going!”

So, is that good for the game? Let’s go back to a different story, from not so long ago:

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He looks down at his hand, no help there. A single whipflare stares back at him, just not powerful enough. Across the board: a fleet of 4/4 hexproof spirits threatening lethal damage. He has one chance – one out. There were two whipflares left in the deck, and either of them would dig him out, wipe the board, and let him set up for a favorable endgame.

Any other card meant death.

He puts his hand on the deck, his hand gripping on the top card. He pulls it, flipping it over because he knows it’s the only thing that matters anymore in this game.

Whipflare

The crowd goes wild.

Brian Kibler taps the mana and wipes the board, so overcome with relief and emotion that he even forgets to attack with his creature before wiping the board. A few short hours later, he’s clutching a trophy in his hands as they name him Pro Tour Champion.

“Just one time, deck. Just one time.”