[Editor's Note: This was originally published on the Asgard Games website in August 2012. Sharing here for archival purposes.]
“[In Stage 1], you are basically mana screwed.” When Mike Flores said this, he introduced the concept of the 3 stages of Magic*. The article is one of his best, and covers all aspects of a game of Magic, but today I just want to focus on Stage 1.
Looking at the current Standard metagame, I realized that almost all of the best decks share a common ability to control the way their mana develops. This means being able to play additional mana sources when you are light on lands, and also having something to do with your mana when you have excess lands sitting around.
Look at this Yuuya-style Delver list that won the last PTQ on Magic Online:
4 Glacial Fortress
8 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Gut Shot
3 Mana Leak
4 Ponder
3 Runechanter's Pike
4 Thought Scour
4 Vapor Snag
This deck can run 19 lands because it plays 12 “cantrips” (Ponder, Thought Scour, and Gitaxian Probe) to search for mana in the early game. In the mid to late game once the mana has been set up, these same spells can be used to search for additional business spells, especially when combined with Snapcaster Mage. Combine that with the pseudo-man-land Moorland Haunt and you get a deck that does not get mana screwed as often as others, and can apply consistent pressure over almost the entire game.
Another deck that has been popular lately has been red-green aggro:
4 Copperline Gorge
10 Forest
4 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Borderland Ranger
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Llanowar Elves
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Strangleroot Geist
1 Viridian Corrupter
2 Wolfir Silverheart
2 Arc Trail
4 Bonfire of the Damned
1 Dismember
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
When Avacyn Restored first came out, these decks played Wolfir Avenger in the 3-drop slot. While it might be a better card than Borderland Ranger, it didn’t really fit in with the rest of the deck. The emphasis shifted more to Bonfire of the Damned and Wolfir Silverheart, both of which require extra mana to be effective. So Borderland Ranger is now the 3-drop of choice. Also note that the mana creatures (Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves) function in two ways: they help your mana during Stage 1, and during the later turns they can pick up a Sword of Feast and Famine or get pumped by Kessig Wolf Run to push through the last points of damage.
The current Birthing Pod lists also use the 1-drop mana creature into Borderland Ranger shell to get out of Stage 1 as fast as possible, but they have additional ways to take advantage in the late game, turning the mana creature into Elvish Visionary or Phantasmal Image with the namesake artifact.
A good way to see the consistency that these decks have is to compare them with other aggro decks that do not have the same mana principles in mind. Here is a typical blue-white Human list from earlier this year:
4 Glacial Fortress
12 Plains
3 Moorland Haunt
1 Island
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveller
4 Grand Abolisher
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Hero of Bladehold
2 Fiend Hunter
4 Honor of the Pure
2 Dismember
3 Oblivon Ring
2 Sword of War and Peace
At first glance, it looks similar to the Delver list earlier. Both are UW aggro decks with Moorland Haunt as the end game. But despite running 5 more lands than the Delver list, the Humans list is much more likely to be mana screwed. This is because it wants to reliably cast 3 and 4 mana spells, but it has no way to ensure it gets to those land drops. Also, keeping a hand with the land to cast Hero of Bladehold is risky, because if your Hero gets countered or killed, you now have a bunch of mana in play that doesn’t really do anything. As the format has gotten faster, missing land drops has a higher chance of costing you the game, and, as a result, this deck no longer sees significant play.
Another example of the “24 lands and pray” plan is actually one of my favorite decks in Standard right now: Goblins.
18 Mountain
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Hellion Crucible
4 Spikeshot Elder
4 Goblin Fireslinger
4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Goblin Wardriver
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Krenko’s Command
4 Goblin Chieftan
4 Krenko, Mob Boss
2 Hellrider
2 Goblin Grenade
This deck is extremely powerful and lots of fun, but it still loses to the mana flood and mana screw much too often to be a Tier 1 strategy.
These are just a few decks that illustrate my point. I’m sure there are many others that exist in Standard, Modern, or even Legacy. Keeping these principles in mind when choosing a deck can lead to a much more pleasant tournament experience.
Later
Ty Thomason
* He originally called them Phases, but changed his terminology later on to avoid confusion with the comprehensive rules definition of a phase. http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/15164_Michaelj_Monday_The_Breakdown_of_Theory.html
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