I didn't write an article last week after playing a Terrageddon list. I always enjoy making five-color lists work, so I thought one last shot at a Terravore deck might be worth it. I went 1-2-1, and my only enjoyable matchup was because my opponent was a blast to play.
It's a very powerful mana-denial deck, but I just don’t find it fun to play, and I know that makes me play it poorly. And when I looked at my notes, I just didn’t even want to write a full article on it. This week was different, but before we get to that, I want to make a couple of announcements about upcoming events.
Our friends, the Fires of Cuyahoga and Gold and Glory, are hosting the first Quarterly in January of next year. Can't wait to help support the store and group and have a blast at the event.
The Akron Quarterly and charity toy drive is approaching. So I want to first shout out The Shared Discovery Guys, The Gulf Coast Premodern Podcast, and Impulse Crew. I asked for stamped cards to give away as prizes at the event, and they all came through with cards and stickers. I love that the crews and communities back each other up across the broader Premodern Community.
We also have the prizing for the Akron Quarterly. The top 8 will all get a Planeshift Terminate, and first place gets a Tempest Wasteland. I haven't heard whether they will be stamped, but this prize is on top of the store credit for the Top 8.
Now for this week's meetup. So far, in the top three Premodern decks. I have played Phyrexian Dreadnought a decent amount and Enchantress a lot. I haven't touched Replenish outside of a few matches while testing for events. I decided that this needed to change this week, as I am considering running it for one or both of the above quarterly events.
So I did my due diligence, found primers and articles written by some of the top players, and dug into the deck. My reading helped this week as I started to learn the deck. I started building my 75 based on my readings and ended up with a list that took from Brian Siu LobsterCon list and his most recent regional lists. I balanced my list with the decks I know show up in my local meta, along with trying to stay fairly close to stock lists as I learned the deck.
I love a good Meddling Mage deck, but for now I decided to start with it in the sideboard. Overall, I am happy with how this list played, and the deck deserves its spot as one of the format's top decks.
Round One — Craig | Fluctuator
Game One
He has a ton of cycling cards but never finds Fluctuator to combo off. I had an Abeyance off my first draw. Then I drew four or five lands in a row.
I played slowly, holding off a turn-three Attunement until I could cast it and hold up the Abeyance in response to his Song of the Damned if he found Fluctuator. A turn or two later, I cast Replenish to win. =
Fluctuator by John Matson
Game Two
I sideboarded in four Meddling Mages and two Tsabo’s Webs. I took out two Frantic Searches, two Mana Leaks, and one OpalWave combo. I am not sure this was the right play, but Craig mulliganed to five, and I had two Meddling Mages: one to juke the Phyrexian Dreadnought from the sideboard and one for Fluctuator. The mulligan hurt his chances, and the double mage sealed the game as he never saw any interaction.
Round Two — Matthew | Pillar Sligh
Game One
He had an early pillar, and I kept a Ancient Tomb-powered hand in the dark. I took too much off the Ancient Tomb trying to find the combo pieces and win.
Game Two
Out went the Ancient Tombs and in came 11 cards: Exalted Angel, Meddling Mage, Hydroblast, and Tsabo’s Web. I took out Frantic Search and most of the Attunement, then trimmed things like Parallax Wave and Decree of Silence. I punted and gave him the win.
Fireblast by Michael Danza
I was at 9 life, and he had four Mountains, two cards in hand, and a Mogg Fantastic in play. I hard-cast an Exalted Angel tapping out, and he had two Fireblasts in hand. We talked after the game and agreed the correct play was to morph the Exalted Angel because I had Mana Leak.
That would have forced him to burn the Exalted Angel instead of my face, leaving me a chance to draw Replenish and win the game with Decree of Silence and Opalescence + Parallax Wave already in the yard before the second Fireblast and Mogg Fanatic could deal lethal.
Round Three — Aaron | RecSur
I am 1-1 against store manager Aaron. When he can, he likes to play some of the store's weekly events. It's always fun to have him join us. RecSur is a great matchup for Replenish per everything I have read, and it felt really good last night.
Game One
I fight through Cabal Therapy and Duress. Luckily, I didn’t open on Replenish. I Intuition for Replenish mid-game. Aaron conceded so I wouldn’t deck him with his own Wall of Blossoms, but that’s how I was going to win.
Game Two
Aaron mulliganed to five and didn't have much action against me or pressure. I comboed off on turn four or five for the win.
Fun night overall, and I took second place this week mostly on good matchups and the power of Replenish.
As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you learned something or enjoyed it.
Featured image: Decree of Silence by Adam Rex
