Last weekend I played my version of Mono-Green Ramp (which I'm calling Dreadmaw Stompy for meme value and to distinguish it from the many other green decks throughout history that have played green cards and ramp) in the Pauper challenge and went 4-3, good for top 32. This wasn't the first time I played the deck – I played a version of it a few weeks ago with less success (2-4), but I think my current list is better.
My list started with the premise that Utopia Sprawl is one of the most powerful cards that hasn't been broken in Pauper yet. Combined with Arbor Elf, it can power out a four-drop on turn two. The deck even gets eight copies of Sprawl because Wild Growth is legal, which helps immensely with adding consistency.
I started working as a port of Modern Ponza (a R/G land destruction deck that plays Utopia Sprawl and Arbor Elf alongside powerful threats like Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Stormbreath Dragon). A quick Google search revealed the existence of Blastoderm, and thinking about it I realized that most decks in Pauper don't have the tools to beat a five-power creature on turn two backed up by another powerful threat on turn three. The deck also just goes bigger than what almost everyone else is doing, so even without the nut draw of Arbor Elf into a Sprawl effect, it can still power out some aggressive creatures on turns 3-4 and hope to get there. I added two other four-drops in Thundering Tanadon and Baloth Gorger, along with some threats higher on the curve in Tajuru Pathwarden, Hollowhenge Beast, and Colossal Dreadmaw.
This was the list I played in the first challenge, which performed reasonably well against slow decks like Tron but struggled against everything else, especially Delver and Boros:
18 Forest
4 Arbor Elf
4 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Llanowar Elves
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Wild Growth
4 Thermokarst
2 Baloth Gorger
4 Blastoderm
1Serrated Arrows
4 Tajuru Pathwarden
2 Hollowhenge Beast
4 Thundering Tanadon
4 Colossal Dreadmaw
4 Gleeful Sabotage
4 Gut Shot
4 Scattershot Archer
3 Serrated Arrows
This list has some major flaws that didn't seem obvious to me at the time but are noticeable now. First of all, it has too many ramp effects and not enough threats. While it is nice to have the added consistency in theory, in practice the gameplan of multiple ramp spells and one or two big threats is not enough to consistently win games. The deck needed to have some flexibility to stand a chance of winning. To solve this, I cut the non-Arbor Elf, non-Growth ramp effects because they make the deck weaker to removal than Utopia Sprawl or Wild Growth, and I believe that outweighs the benefit of using them as attackers in the late game.
There were also a number of individual cards that weren't up to par. The deck realistically almost never hits enough mana to kick Baloth Gorger, and a 4/4 for 4 with no evasion just isn't good enough. Tajuru Pathwarden and Hollowhenge Beast were also extremely awkward in trying to curve out and not significantly better than the four-mana options available. The sideboard was so heavily geared towards beating Delver that I couldn't bring in all the anti-Delver cards without significantly hampering the gameplan, and Serrated Arrows doesn't cut it in a world of Gurmag Anglers and Kor Skyfishers. Thermokarst was also not strong enough as a turn two play since many Pauper decks play cheap enough spells to win through land destruction.
Though some of the individual cards flopped, others shined. Blastoderm is too ineffective on its own (as it often was in this list), but when combined with another big threat or two it can blow a game wide open. Thundering Tanadon's not-insignificant cost of a fifth of your life total is offset by that cost being optional and the fact that it's a meat cleaver of a body that can get damage through early blockers effectively, Colossal Dreadmaw is nearly unbeatable for Delver when it comes down on turn three or four. It's even possible to play more than four since it's a functional reprint of a planeswalker deck common from Hour of Devastation (Brambleweft Behemoth) although I stuck with four because I wanted consistency in finding a four-drop to play early.
Even though the list was heavily flawed, I saw potential. Ramping out four-drops on turn two is great, but I needed to do it more consistently and base the list more on maximizing that gameplan than being a port of Ponza.
Fortunately, I was able to find some upgrades. Looking at Ponza's plan of running four Tireless Trackers in addition to land destruction, I decided that I needed an aggressive play to make early big creatures more effective. Phantom Tiger fits that bill nicely – the pseudo-undying makes it a great tandem attacker with a five-power four drop and helps it play defense, and it has a side benefit of interacting well with Vines.
Vines of Vastwood is probably the most important of the new cards in the deck. It essentially has three different modes that wouldn't be worth the card on their own, but the flexibility is incredibly powerful. The first is saving something from a removal spell, the second is pumping something in combat to save a big creature and/or get through trample damage, and the third "hidden" mode is countering a Priest or Inside Out combo (since Vines can stop any creature from being the target of your opponent's spells).
Tangle Golem can't come down on turn two with an Elf/Sprawl combo, but it can come down on turn three with one ramp spell, and it's easier to protect it with Vines later in the game than the other "four-drops." It also has the nice side benefit of getting through Prismatic Strands. I also added three copies of Rancor to make the deck better against blockers like Kor Skyfisher. Finally, I added Wall of Roots as another ramp effect that would serve as a blocker and play well with Vines, and changed the sideboard to make it both more effective against Delver and more balanced against other decks (in all honesty, my initial sideboard was pretty terrible so there was nowhere to go but up).
This was the list I played in the challenge last weekend:
18 Forest
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Wild Growth
4 Wall of Roots
4 Phantom Tiger
4 Blastoderm
4 Thundering Tanadon
4 Colossal Dreadmaw
4 Tangle Golem
3 Vines of Vastwood
3 Rancor
4 Dissenter's Deliverance
4 Golgari Brownscale
3 Nylea's Disciple
4 Scattershot Archer
I was pleasantly surprised with how the deck performed. In contrast to the first challenge where I was getting completely steamrolled sometimes, I felt like this list could enact its gameplan in most games, especially later in the tournament when I faced four Delver decks in a row and started cutting Wall of Roots. The threats all felt reasonably strong, whereas the first time around it felt like I was settling for playing bad cards because I couldn't think of better alternatives – it turned out it all it took to find them was some more creative card searches. The sideboard also felt improved, with
Nylea's Disciple turning a few corners against Delver and white decks. In one game, I was able to narrowly outrace a triple-Delver start thanks to multiple Disciples (plus the Delvers taking a couple turns to flip).
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL CARDS
Arbor Elf, Utopia Sprawl, and Wild Growth are automatic four-ofs.
Wall of Roots did virtually nothing, which may have partly been influenced by the decks I played against, but it's the worst of the four ramp cards by a significant margin and I feel the slots would be better used on more three-drops or top-end threats. It's worth noting that I started cutting Wall of Roots during the final few rounds and the deck felt much smoother without it.
Phantom Tiger did a great job of filling its role of coming down on turn two in draws that can't get to four mana by then, and serving as a good attacker and blocker later. I think it's probably the best card for its role but I'm also interested in playing five or more copies, possibly in the form of something more aggressive like Hungry Spriggan.
Blastoderm was great when backed up by another big threat that stuck, and not good enough when trying to attack on its own or with just a Phantom Tiger. Cutting Wall of Roots for more threats should help with that issue.
Thundering Tanadon is a good card in theory, but it has some flaws that concern me – especially against aggro and Delver decks, which have both ways to handle the body and ways to take advantage of the life payment. It's still an efficient body with trample and I think running four is correct at the moment given that it's better than the other options at four mana, though I have a gut feeling that I may too high on it having not playing against any true aggro decks since the first challenge.
Tangle Golem performed well. Five power at four mana is a good number, and although not being able to cast it on turn two seems a bit awkward in theory, it didn't play out that way in practice.
Colossal Dreadmaw is, like Tanadon, a card that I suspect I'm overvaluing a bit because of my matchup spread, but Dreadmaw is much harder to deal with both via removal and blockers so I feel more secure in saying four is the correct number (meme value notwithstanding). Unlike Tanadon, it is very good against Delver, which is a plus.
I never got to use Vines of Vastwood to counter anything, but it still overperformed. A lot of players might want to try to double or triple block to pull back within reach of parity rather than chump blocking to neutralize big attackers, and Vines comes in huge against that plan. It was a bit awkward when I drew multiples, but I feel three is a good number, possibly with a fourth in the sideboard for matchups where countering a combo is relevant.
Rancor was fine. It helped me pull ahead a couple times, but it was also yet another non-threat card to reduce the likelihood of drawing well. Three is probably too many, but it might be correct to play some number.
There are seven sideboard cards I think are good: the four Golgari Brownscales, the third and fourth Nylea's Disciples, and the fourth Vines of Vastwood. I haven't found anything I love to fill the other eight slots, but there are a number of serviceable cards, so for now I'm basing it off which decks I might benefit from warping my gameplan against.
I never brought in Dissenter's Deliverance, although I like having it even with Affinity having basically fallen off the map since it's still decent in some quantity against Boros Monarch.
I brought in Golgari Brownscale as another threat against Exhume. That was an incorrect approach to the matchup in hindsight, but I feel it has value against aggro decks that use the ground like Goblins and possibly Burn. I believe it's worth noting that Disciple is significantly better than Brownscale and if I were going to run seven total, I would cut a Brownscale first.
Nylea's Disciple was great. Lifegain is huge against hyperaggressive decks like Stompy, Goblins, or Burn as well as tempo-oriented ones like Delver, and as with Phantom Tiger, the three-power body is a good tandem attacker with a bigger creature. It's a slam-dunk four-of in the sideboard in my eyes and I could see a copy or two in the main as well.
Scattershot Archer is still good against Delver. I want to try cutting it, but I suspect I'll probably go back to it soon since the other options for sideboard slots 12-15 seem medium at best.
I want to try Relic of Progenitus because it seems good against more decks than Scattershot Archer or Dissenter's Deliverance. There's a good chance that it's actually terrible against most of those decks, but trying a card never hurt anyone.
I saw someone in a Reddit thread question why I wasn't running Aurochs Herd or Self-Assembler. Truthfully I forgot those cards existed, but after thinking about it I believe they're too slow to fit into the game plan. The deck wins games by powering out big creatures early, and I don't see a 4/4 for 5 being efficient enough for the mana investment against something like Delver or better than the alternative of beating face as fast as possible against more control-oriented decks like Tron or Pestilence.
NOTES ON MATCHUPS
In the challenge, I played against:
UB Exhume (0–2)
WB Pestilence (2–1)
WB Pestilence (1–2)
UR Delver (0–2)
UR Delver (2–1)
UR Delver (2–1)
U Delver (2–1)
Exhume feels like a bad matchup. They're enacting a relatively similar gameplan, but they get to do it while playing removal spells and cantrips, and their tradeoff of having to spend mana on cantrips early isn't a huge deal. I think it isn't an 0-2 loss every time given that sometimes their mana will be inconsistent or their deck will be too slow, but I do think it's unfavorable based on theory and my limited experience. The silver lining is that it isn't a very common deck.
I beat three of the four Delver decks I faced this time around after suffering a thrashing at the hands of Delver despite "reasonable" draws last time, although there's evidence that suggests this was something of an anomaly. Some of the games I won were off of Delver stumbling. Phantom Tiger and Vines do greatly improve the matchup, as does Nylea's Disciple postboard. In addition, the three Delver players I beat were in the X-3 bracket, and although they didn't play noticeably badly, I may not have fared so well against top Delver players. Still, I feel it isn't hugely unfavorable. Moving Nylea's Disciple to the maindeck may help as that's one of the best cards against them.
I feel confident in saying that slower decks like Tron, Pestilence, and MBC are generally favorable. They don't tend to do much in the first couple turns, and that's a weak point this deck is good at attacking. I am a bit more worried about U/x and Boros Monarch because their removal lines up reasonably well and they can get aggressive without exposing themselves too much.
Faster decks like Goblins are also good matchups in theory. I believe the plan of trying to curve a turn-one ramp spell into a three and a four that can gain some life postboard is a workable one, and there's always the possibility of finding an surer path to a win when their draws don't line up. I am worried about Elves (though it seems to have mostly gone to the wayside for the time being) and somewhat about Boros Bully.
If I were to play a tournament with this deck today, this is the (completely untested) list I'd run:
18 Forest
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Wild Growth
4 Phantom Tiger
3 Hungry Spriggan
4 Blastoderm
4 Tangle Golem
2 Nylea's Disciple
4 Thundering Tanadon
4 Colossal Dreadmaw
3 Vines of Vastwood
2 Rancor
4 Dissenter's Deliverance
4 Golgari Brownscale
2 Nylea's Disciple
4 Relic of Progenitus
1 Vines of Vastwood
And a sideboard plan for that list:
U/x DELVER
OUT
IN
TRON
OUT
IN
BOROS MONARCH
OUT
IN
OUT
IN
PRIEST COMBO
OUT
IN
RED AGGRO
OUT
What are your thoughts on Aura Gnarlid, Primal Huntbeast (or even Silhana Ledgewalker) and Festerhide Boar (possible interaction with Blastoderm dying). What about maybe 2 Satyr Wayfinder instead of 2 Wall of Roots for mana improvement?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I meant "Voyagin Satyr", actually
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