Stalkingprey: Watching the Rath Cycle Metagame

  Being familiar with decks and trends is an important part of competitive Magic:the Gathering.  One must watch local events, major tournaments, and the world abroad to successfully predict the ever changing metagame. The following is a rundown of what to expect at your qualifiers and how to deal with them.  Absorb what you can and good luck at your PTQs.

  Originally, weenie beat downdecks seemed the obvious way to go.  With the success of mono-red Cursed Scroll decks at LA, it appeared that little would stop the rapid onslaught decks.  Though scroll is banned in Rath Cycle, red is still a formidable adversary.  Many PTQs are being taken by the evil new red menace.
 

 
Whatyou need to know:

  The typical mono-red deck is creature heavy, running anywhere from 23-30 creatures. The creature choices are usually pretty straight forward.  Pups and Fanatics seem to be the constant in all of its incarnations.  Mogg Raiders serve as a creature pumper, Capsize killer, and answer to the often game finishing Living Death.  Burn averages 4-10 slots in the deck in random variations cumulating with 4 Shocks.  Many players are also choosing Maniacal Rage over Giant Strength for its creature stopping abilities as well. ( Can't get by a fatty for the final kill, now you can.)  Mana bases seem typical as well.  Lands ranging from as low as 16 ( yes, 16! ) to as high as 21 for Seismic Assault versions can beseen running amok at qualifiers.  This deck is too similar to Standard Sligh....  beat down served nasty.  This deck is generally hosed by the addition of Chills, Propaganda, Humility, and Cop:Red/Warmth. This deck empties its hand quickly as well.  If one can survive the initial assault, it is possible to gain serious card advantage with sweeping removal and life gain/card drawing tools.  Many players are still choosing brute force over calculated control, due to its ease of flow andability to take advantage of mana screw.  With slower controlling decks being popular items, this deck stands to do some serious damage in the future.

  Although SuicideBlack has been dealt some serious blows in this format due to the popularityof mono-red burn, it still stands as an ever present danger to many decks. Daniel Brickwell's success at Worlds is a prime example of just how nastyit can get.  The ability to kill on turn two or three is an ever loomingdanger many decks are forced to deal with.  Suicide Black adds theraw speed of weenie beat down to the Channel like card Hatred to end gamesquickly and abruptly.  Unchecked, this deck can easily take a greatmajority of the current field.
 
 

Suicide Black

4 Sarcomancy    4 Carnophage    4 Dauthi Horror    4 Dauthi Slayer    4 Dauthi Warlord    2 Reckless Spite    1 Dark Banishing

4 Dark Ritual    3 Thrull Surgeon    1 Stronghold Assassin    4 Hatred    1 Crovax the Cursed    3 Spinal Graft

1 Volrath's Stronghold    2 Wasteland  18 Swamp

 
What you need to know:
 

  Black weenie is deadly, black weenie isfast, black weenie is easy to stop.  With proper preparation, oneca shoot down a black magi's hopes in a matter of seconds.  Effectivetargeted removal or creature stopping cards are the keys to unlocking successvs. Suicide Black.  This deck is about creature damage.  Thegreatest majority of its creatures are evasive, thus making it hard todeal with.  The addition of Thrull Surgeon from Exodus, combined withVolrath's Stronghold allows a black mage to deal with annoying controldecks without losing the utility of creature damage. (  A.K.A.- Coercion )  Along with fast evasive critters comes the cheapcosting zombies of Sarcomancy and Carnophage.  It is hardly uncommonto drop 2-3 on the first turn with this deck.  Creature boosters likeSpinal Graft and the king of all boost Hatred fill out the deck. Typically the average deck runs 4 Hatreds and anywhere from zero to fourgrafts.  Removal is also varied in this deck type as some people optfor sheer speed over removal. ( i.e.- Culling the Weak )  Evasivecreatures, rapid assaults, and massive damage are the real means of victoryfor this deck.  Nullify these, and you will find life a great dealeasier.

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  What's a true weenie roundup without Weenie White?  Although WW has lost the mind numbing smashof Empyrial Armor, it still has the massive destruction of Cataclysm. A few of the last PTQs were taken by the protective deck type.  Witha massive array of Disenchant ability, the popular Enchantment test decksstand little chance against the " great white hype".  In true noblefashion, this deck is returning for another round at the Rath Cycle assaults.
 

White Wedding

4 Soul Warden    4 Soltari Monk    4 Soltari Priest    4 Soltari Visionary    4 Warrior en Kor    4 Soltari Emissary

2 Paladin en Vec    2 Knight of  Dawn    3 Disenchant    4 Cataclysm    3 Helm of Possession

3 Wastelands   19 Plains

What you need to Know:
 

    Weenie White isstill an ever present danger.  Thanks to Cataclysm, this deck candeal serious blows to slow controlling decks.  Helm of Possessionis key in a creature heavy deck with few sources of removal.  Thisgives WW the ability to deal with annoying Tradewind Riders and he like. The generous amounts of pro-color creatures also help this deck in itsfights vs. opposing color decks.  One can not simple overpower WWas it might another deck.  With the ability to use 4 Visionaries,4 Disenchants, and Cloudchasers...one must wonder how an enchantment heavydeck could survive against WW at all.  The typical WW deck runs 4of all the pro color creatures paired with the redirecting Vec and SoulWardens.  For a mere W mana , one can often win games through massivelife gain.  Weenie White does have some serious problems though. Dread of Night is a surefire addition to all black based or splashed decks. One can act as a one sided Wrath of God when played at the proper time. By simply denying any attempt to remove the Dread, an opposing deck cancrush any hopes for a WW victory.  Sweep removal in the form of ShardPhoenix is also a popular addition to the strong Nightmare archetype. If Weenie White is to survive, one must exercise proper game play and frequentCataclysms.

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    When players realizedthe inherent potential of the Recurring Nightmare/Survival of the Fittestcombo, they immediately began researching its abusiveness.  Over thepast few weeks, many players have come to realize just how strong thisdeck really is.  It placed at Worlds, at Boston, at Lisbon, and numerousPTQs.  With a few weeks left before PTQ Rome players search for morekeys to unlocking the powers of this deadly deck type.  The Finkeltroncontinues to exploit the evil power of this deck, beware!
 

 
What you need to know:
 

  On average, this deck uses a great dealof non basic mana.  However, cards like Wastelands and Price of Progressseem fewer uses than before in this format.  In turn, this gives Nightmarea great deal of flexibility.  This deck is just made for Living Death. On average a player can expect to see 1- 3 Deaths main decked in Nmare. The real combo to the deck is the Survival/NMare combo.  The truepower comes from the flexibility of the creature mix.  Green givesthe card drawing/graveyard filling tool Hermit Druid and the Spike controlof Feeders and Weavers.  A recurring Weaver can often win games againstcreature driven decks.  Wall of Blossoms is a creature stopper andcard drawing giant in this deck.  The key against many decks is thepowerhouse fatty, Verdant Force.  By recurring the veggie tokens ,one can make for huge amounts of advantage vs. their opponents.  Blackgives the deck the ability to recurse via Coffin Queen and the Coercioncard control of Thrull Surgeon.  The smidgen of blue in the deck allowsfor Tradewind locks to be created, and give the deck the ability to dealwith annoying permanents.  The combination of Anarchists and Lobotmy/LDeathmake for even more problems.  Can this deck get any better? Only the future will tell.  Removal in the deck varies amongst playersin cards like Shard Phoenix, Stronghold Assassin, and Rootwater Hunters. Stopping the deck can be difficult , but can be achieved.  Tradewakeningwas created to do exactly that by denying various key cards.  By denyingNMares and mana/card drawing one can foil the evil power of LDeath.

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  With the success of RecurringNightmare, players have sought ways to foil the flexible deck's power. Tradewakening seems the perfect answer for doing so.  With the abilityto land lock an opponent in a short amount of time, Tradewakening has beenracking up points on the Rath Cycle tour.  Bounce the permanents,counter the threats, then apply spike beat down is the key to victory forthis deck.  Players like Alan Comer and Zvi Mowshowitz have capitalizedon its "elastic" capabilities.
 

What you need to know:
 

  Tradewakening is a simple enough idea. See stuff, bounce it back..then counter it if necessary.   Agreat deal of card drawing is made possible with this deck.  The deckis fueled by the Whispers of the Muse/Awakening combo or the bouncing Wallof Blossoms trick.  With any buyback spell, Awakening becomes an effectivetool.  One must beware however, as your opponent gets the same bonuses....thusthere is countermagic.  The Forbid engines, once running, are nearlyunstoppable.  Green also supplies creature control and damage viaSpike Feeder/Weaver.  This deck does have a great deal of problemswith some of the weenie archetypes.  Suicide Black can simply demolishthis deck in a mere matter of minutes.  Effective side boarding canoften save the Tradewakening player, but one must always be weary of blitzkriegstyle rush decks.  To beat this deck, apply pressure quickly and denybuyback spells.  More pressure causes this deck to be more reactive,and that can spell doom if the pace is maintained constantly.  Thereare few tricks to this deck, save for a few counter sacking/bouncing yourown permanent abilities.  This deck seems to do rather well againstdecks like Nightmare.  It's success had been proven over the lastfew weeks, it may be possible that even greater things can be achievedwith this deck.

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   When I first starteddeck testing, I had discussed the possibilities of a Counter Phoenix deckin this format.  Had we brought our ideas to fruition, we might havediscovered how capable it could be.  With the ability to create aCountermagic lock and the removal of mass permanents, Counter Phoenix hasbecome a true competitive deck type in Rath Cycle.  With a swing towardscontrol decks, Counter Phoenix may have an edge sought after at this pointin the Qualifier run.
 
 

What you need to know:
 

  The decklist presented above is the Buehlerversion.  Notice it is one card shy however.  When I discoverwhat it was, I will update as necessary.  The ability to abuse ShardPhoenix in combination with Forbid is no laughing matter.  This cancreate a psuedo-lock with countermagic.  The typical Phoenix deckwill run 12-14 counterspells and 5-10 red removal cards. ( Not includingthe mandatory 4 Phoenixes )  These decks also run an ample amountof land ranging from 24 to an awesome 30 mana!  Intuition is the realkey to the deck.  It can serve to retrieve those Phoenixes or neededcountermagic.  In the late game it can weed out the unnecessary manacards.  One can not be afraid to Intuition for land early, this deckwants to have a great deal of land in play.  Weenie White can getto this deck if given a proper start. The collection of Pro-red creaturescan often devastate CP.  Versions of the deck greatly differ in runningWhispers, Grindstones, and additional burn.  If you haven't play testedagainst this deck, you probably want to start doing so.

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  Humility Prayer has become a staple partof Rath Cycle deck testing as of late.  Its success has been provenby Brian Hacker and various other players at Worlds.  Against creaturedecks, its enchantments can often overwhelm the weenie assaults meant tobring it down.  Many decks just don't have an answer for so many enchantments. Control decks have become awful popular, and this is definitely an exercisein control.
 

 
What you need to Know:
 

   Humility Prayer simply overloads an opponent with complicating enchantments.  Even worse is the fact that they are all creature hosing enchantments.   By adding some protectivecountermagic, one can easily Grind his way to victory against a great deal of decks.  Against control decks, the idea changes a bit but the premise is the same.  Control then Grind to victory.  The newest incarnation of this deck is smidgeoning black for the deck wrecking power of Lobotomy in the main deck.  Intuition again is a key card in this deck as well. The ability to grab what's needed is a powerful one indeed.  This deck can be overcome though.  Deck like Counter Phoenix and NMarecan utilize their unique deck styles to bring Prayer to its knees. By denying key enchantments or Lobotomizing away needed cards, one can bring the Grindstone menace to a grinding halt.  Knowing what the deck looks like and how it wins, are true keys to unlocking its defeat.

 

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    By knowing what to expect, one can better be prepared for the future.  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at DBull19002@aol.com.

Dave Bull
Team Island Magic(v2.0)
DBull19002@aol.com