Best Deck in the World

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	Main	Sideboard
	4 Copperline Gorge 5 Forest 4 Inkmoth Nexus 3 Kessig Wolf Run 6 Mountain 4 Rootbound Crag 1 Birds of Paradise 4 Inferno Titan 4 Primeval Titan 4 Solemn Simulacrum 1 Thrun, the Last Troll 2 Devil's Play 4 Galvanic Blast 2 Green Sun's Zenith 4 Rampant Growth 1 Shock 3 Slagstorm 4 Sphere of the Suns	2 Ancient Grudge 4 Autumn's Veil 1 Beast Within 1 Slagstorm 2 Sword of Feast and Famine 2 Thrun, the Last Troll 2 Tree of Redemption 1 Viridian Corrupter

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The Magic 2011 World Championships is in the books. It spanned three days and three formats: Standard, Modern, and Innistrad draft. Japan's Junya Iyanaga was crowned champion and this is his Standard deck.

Junya piloted this deck to a 6-0 start on day one then continued the perfect streak right through the top 8 elimination matches. Of course the "best deck in the world" can't be decided by one tournament (he got some favorable matchups in the top 8 for example) but if a deck goes 9-0 in a tournament of this caliber you know it's powerful.

This is one of the "Wolf Run" decks you've been hearing about. The game plan is ramp into Primeval Titans then fetch up Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus which combine to be fatal very quickly. Green Sun's Zenith provides some redundancy to find the Titans.

What makes this version of the ramp deck a bit different is heavy reliance on red. Some versions of Wolf Run nearly completely eschew red, viewing it as a necessary evil to trigger the Wolf Run ability, but Junya embraces red in this build running a full set of Inferno Titans. Eight Titans! No wonder he seemed to draw one every game.

I'm glad to see Inferno Titan in a champion deck because this completes the cycle. We've seen Primeval Titans dominate through land fetching shenanigans since Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. Grave Titan and Frost Titan have shown up frequently as finishers in high powered control decks and Sun Titan has recently seen the top tables in the graveyard based Solar Flare. Inferno Titan had a harder time seeing play perhaps because red decks generally want to be fast, but Junya saw that Wolf Run was the perfect home for the fiery giant.

With a ton of mana ramp, eight titans, and two zeniths you can pretty much count on a titan coming down early. Primeval fetches the lands to get deadly, but Inferno acts as machine gun. The metagame's shift towards weenie based decks (and Channel Fireball's top eight blitz with Tempered Steel) makes the Red Titan crushingly powerful. On turn four you can cast an Inferno Titan and wipe out an opposing Mirran Crusader and Avacyn's Pilgrim, or flay three Memnites. If your opponent doesn't have an answer he'll do it again next turn and potentially hit you for ten. If it's not the titan that wipes your board of weenies it'll be the Slagstorm.

Another little innovation is the ramp suite. He goes with a full set of Sphere of the Suns and Simulacrums. Also note the choice to run the old favorite Rampant Growth instead of the recently hip alternative Viridian Emissary.

Congrats to Junya. This mega ramp, eight titan, monster earns a place in Magic History.

A Story about Spike

Spike wanted to be great at Magic. He wanted to play in the Pro Tour.

To play in a Pro Tour you must be invited, and Spike's best shot was to win a Pro Tour Qualifier. These were large tournaments with a lot of serious players all competing for the same single invitation. This was Spike's goal and he started working towards it.

He studied the game, studied the formats, and played a lot of Magic. He worked hard at improving his understanding of the game and his play skills, and he began to get pretty good. Months passed then a year. He enjoyed seeing his progress and was driven by the thought of reaching his goal and proving to himself that he could achieve what he set out to do.

Then things got difficult. Winning a local Friday Night Magic wasn't a problem for someone as dedicated as Spike, but winning a PTQ was another story. Now Spike had to beat a hundred other Spikes. You see, Spike's goal was difficult to achieve, but that's why it appealed to him. Being great, by definition, is difficult.

Spike was down, but not out. He had been placing towards the middle of his PTQs recently, but he felt like this was his day. He sat waiting for other players to show up. The event was at a comic shop he'd been to before. The format was his best and he was shuffling up what he believed was the best deck. He felt confident as the tournament organizer called out the starting matchups.

He lost four matches in a row and dropped from the tournament. He hated losing, but the more he thought about it the more upset he became because he realized how poorly he played, how many mistakes he made, and how badly he misjudged the format. He put so much time and energy into this and he failed. He failed to do what he set out to do. He tried, so very hard, to win and he lost. He was not great. He was average or worse and he began to doubt himself.

One thing Spike hadn't thought about much until now was his natural ability. Other people were smarter than him. The guys winning these tournaments could get farther with less work. Maybe he was trying to fit a square peg into a round a hole. Maybe he should give up.

He thought about it a while. Yeah, there were people smarter than him, and yeah, there were people who could win without even trying, but he couldn't do anything about that. He failed and had to decide whether he was going to give up or keep trying. In fact, he decided he didn't really care if his natural abilities were suited for winning at Magic or not. He still wanted to win. He still wanted to reach his goal, and he had to keep going. But he realized he had to do something else also. If he wanted to win he couldn't make the same mistakes he made that day.

Spike's failure was painful because he tried so hard to succeed, but through that failure he learned things that he couldn't have learned otherwise. Instead of viewing failure as his own inability and giving up he decided to learn from his mistakes and keep working towards his goal.

In this way he continued on. He still made mistakes, he still lost, but he learned, and he succeeded. He got that invitation to the Pro Tour.

Garruk vs Liliana Redux

Here is my first custom duel deck set. Checkout my article on designing your own duel decks if you haven't already. I bought the Garruk vs Liliana duel deck a while ago, but this re-envisioned version of the their battle is very different. About the only cards which are in both are Garruk and Liliana. This wasn't because I didn't like the original matchup but because I've long since dismantled the original decks.

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Garruk
	16 Forest 4 Sunpetal Grove 2 Brushland 1 Stirring Wildwood 2 Swords to Plowshares 2 Vines of Vastwood 3 Birds of Paradise 1 Noble Hierarch 2 Rancor 3 Porcelain Legionnaire 1 Qasali Pridemage	1 Skinshifter 4 Garruk's Companion 1 Omnath, Locus of Mana 2 Oblivion Ring 1 Behemoth Sledge 1 Troll Ascetic 4 Leatherback Baloth 1 Garruk Wildspeaker 1 Wickerbough Elder 2 Cudgel Troll 3 Overrun 2 Garruk's Packleader

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Garruk's deck is nearly mono green. In fact there are 23 lands and all 23 generate green mana. Another important feature of the mana base is 22 of 23 lands come into untapped virtually every time. This means turn two Garruk's Companion and turn three (or two) Leatherback Baloth's are the norm.

I had to splash white for removal. The first build was actually red and green but I was finding Lightning Bolt and Flame Slash couldn't stand up to Liliana's best threats. Swords to Plowshares was up to the task, however, which is expected since it's arguably the best removal spell ever printed. Thanks to a previous duel deck purchase I had two lying around. A pair of Oblivion Rings round out small but effective removal suite.

The white mana comes from seven dual lands, but also from three Birds and a Hierarch. The mana providing creatures are especially nice here since they can enable a turn two Leatherback but can also provide a single white mana needed to cast a removal spell. Birds of Paradise also tends to make really important blocks against a Steel Hellkite.

The full set of Companions and Leatherbacks along with the Legionnaire form the heart of the deck. Be sure to hook up the Leatherback or Legionnaire with a Rancor whenever possible. The result is usually terrifying. The beats start early and keep coming. This deck is very aggressive. It didn't start out so aggressive but it kept losing. I tried three or four variations of green based mid-range decks and nothing could finish the Liliana deck before expensive but higher quality spells put the game out of reach. I made it faster and faster until it started winning.

Rancor and Behemoth sledge turn your already impressive creatures into game winners, and overrun, like always, powers out victories even when your opponent thinks he's stabilized (do watch out for Mana Leak).

Vampire Nighthawk is the bane of your existence. Don't be afraid to take it out with removal. I've even Swords'd a Typhoid Rats before. The plan is to defeat your opponent before the six drops come online; don't be afraid to use removal to accomplish that.

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Liliana
	9 Swamp 7 Island 4 Drowned Catacomb 2 Terramorphic Expanse 2 Evolving Wilds 1 Duress 1 Bonesplitter 1 Typhoid Rats 1 Dark Ritual 1 Disfigure 1 Inquisition of Kozilek 1 Sol Ring 2 Ponder 3 Mana Leak 1 Marsh Casualties 1 Agony Warp 2 Doom Blade	1 Echoing Truth 3 Vampire Nighthawk 1 Sanguine Guard 1 Trinket Mage 1 Treasure Mage 1 Sea Gate Oracle 1 Phyrexian Arena 1 Crystal Ball 1 Consuming Vapors 1 Control Magic 1 Razormane Masticore 1 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 1 Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief 1 Liliana Vess 1 Twisted Abomination 1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle 1 Steel Hellkite 1 Necropouncer

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Liliana plays control. There are only 24 lands which is a little low for a control deck, but the two ponders provide a virtual 25th (thanks to the Turbo Xerox Rule) and Sol Ring Provides a virtual 26th (and 27th?).

This deck is very close to the original deck I threw together. It ended up being rather hard to deal with. The Nighthawks are your bridge to the endgame. If left alone they can win the game (especially with a Bonesplitter), and they put the breaks on a lot of threats. They can block, gain life and trade with big attackers. Arena and Crystal Ball provide card advantage and card quality and your host of strong five and six drops is how you plan to win. Be careful with Arena though. You may need a Nighthawk to counteract the life loss.

As Garruk's deck got faster Liliana had to adjust accordingly. Mana Leak is vital here. You simply can't survive to turn six if you don't disrupt the opponent. Use the removal as you need it. You don't want to wait until it's too late. You can be a little more selective with Control Magic though. A Leatherback or whatever has Rancor are excellent choices. Inquisition may be the best card in deck since it's nearly guaranteed to get something important. Sanguine Guard is strong vs Garruk's Companion and Porcelain Legionnaire.

Usually your trying to nullify your opponent's every move to survive, but occasionally you can ramp directly to the end game with a Dark Ritual or Sol Ring.

The Trinket/Treasure mage package is pretty cool. There are one of each mage and two of each "targets". Trinket Mage can fetch up a Sol Ring or Bonesplitter. Both of which are awesome. The Treasure Mage almost always wants to go for the devastating Steel Hellkite. You'll probably only go for the Necropouncer if the Hellkite is already in your hand. It does go nice with a Nighthawk though. Also, I was too cheap to buy a Wurmcoil Engine.

Drana might be the most devastating finisher, but sometimes she's just a little too slow. If you need an immediate halt to your opponent's assault there's nothing quite like Razormane Manticore. Liliana can fetch up whatever you need at the moment. Common choices are Marsh Causalities, Nighthawk, Drana, or Masticore.

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I had a lot of fun putting these together. I'm happy with how they turned out but I don't think I'm done tweaking. One update I've thought about is giving Liliana a Demonic Tutor and Garruk something equally broken... Fastbond maybe? I look forward to upgrading and battling these for years to come.

I've already started on Ajani vs Nicol Bolas too.

Dead Goblins

Until last year I didn't play Standard because I thought it was too expensive. Then I tried an experiment. I wanted to see if I could win in the casual room with a ten dollar deck. Come to find out I could. I built Goblins and ended up 27-9.

Looking to repeat the magic, I built another Goblin deck for a friend as an introduction to Standard.

	4 Goblin Grenade 2 Arc Trail 4 Incinerate 4 Brimstone Volley 2 Darksteel Axe 2 Shrine of Burning Rage 4 Spikeshot Elder 4 Goblin Arsonist 4 Goblin Gaveleer 4 Goblin Wardriver 4 Goblin Chieftain 2 Blisterstick Shaman 20 Mountain

I had the same goal this time around: maximize power and minimize cost. I guess Goblins are good at that. This deck cost eight tickets and started off 8-2.

Most Goblin decks are very aggressive and this is no exception. With 18 one drops and 12 two drops you can count on using every ounce of available mana starting on turn one. The plan is to overwhelm the opponent early and finish with a barrage of direct damage. I call it Dead Goblins, because let's face it, about the best thing a Goblin can aspire to is being hurled at an opponent as a Grenade and triggering a Morbid Brimstone Volley. Shrine, Grenade, and Volley give this aggro deck amazing reach to finish games in true Red Mage fashion.

Designing Duel Decks

Magic can be viewed not as game, but instead as a game framework. Most card games use a fixed card pool. Magic is different because each player brings a customized set of cards to contribute to the game's card pool. Since every combination of decks, or matchup, creates a different set of cards, one could argue that each matchup creates a different game. Anyone who has played enough Magic knows that this is more than a technicality. Different formats and matchups require very different knowledge and strategies.

This is perhaps what makes Magic so interesting and successful. We don't play one game, but an endless variety of games all within a familiar framework. However, this great flexibility comes at a cost.


Imagine Timmy and Spike are lab partners in Biology. They discover they both enjoy Magic and decide to play after class. Timmy has been working on his deck for a while now. It features his favorite 100 green creatures (mostly determined by the power stat). Spike brings his favorite deck too: Legacy Dredge. Spike defeats Timmy before he casts a spell. He doesn't cast a spell in game two or three either. Timmy decides he doesn't want to play anymore. Spike's not really having fun either.

The game created by these two player's card pools is very one-sided and not very interesting. Is there any way that Timmy and Spike can play together and have fun?

What if Timmy built two decks? Wurms vs Dragons. What if Spike brought along some of his other Tier 1 Legacy decks? Now you could imagine Spike piloting Wurms to a narrow victory vs Dragons. Timmy might learn that he enjoys being able to cast spells on turn one (and survive past turn four) as he tries out Spike's Legacy Merfolk.

The concept behind "duel decks" is instead of just building your deck, build both decks in the matchup. This way you can ensure the decks are balanced and the game is fun. In effect, you are custom building your own game within the framework of Magic. Ever want to be a game designer? Here's your chance! There are ten-thousand or so unique pieces to work with.

To get started just match up any two decks you think would be fun to play. You could start with some decks you've already built. Or you could buy two starter decks, or even a pre-built Duel Decks set (I love these things, but don't worry there is still plenty of work to do if you go this route). Don't worry too much about balance yet, just use cards that you like to play with.

Once you've built your decks it's time to test. Play them against each other over and over again. As you play pay attention to whether the games are fun. Which cards are fun in the matchup and which aren't? Also keep a win/loss record of each deck. You want them to be as close to even as possible.

A few examples of things to watch out for. You notice that deck one has no way to deal with deck two's Unscythe, Killer of Kings. Every time it hits play it's an unhappy feeling. Deck one has to end the game very soon or suffer inevitable defeat. Helplessness isn't fun so give deck one a Naturalize. You don't want cards to feel one-dimensional so give deck two a Steel Hellkite. Now the Naturalize is more interesting. If you're playing deck two you could use the Naturalize on the Hellkite, but you might try to wait until you draw a Doom Blade so you have a way to deal with Unscythe if it shows up.

What do you do if one deck is winning too much? You have to understand why. If you not sure then keep playing, and eventually you'll figure it out. Maybe the deck is just too slow. Maybe it needs removal, or more threats. Keep playing and keep tweaking. Value balance and fun. Eventually you will create a game that you're proud to call your own.