{"id":1080,"date":"2019-05-14T09:35:17","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T07:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/?p=1080"},"modified":"2019-05-21T22:23:06","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T20:23:06","slug":"deck-tech-deadguy-ale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/deck-tech-deadguy-ale\/","title":{"rendered":"Deck Tech: Deadguy Ale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Next in this month’s deck tech series is this piece about Deadguy Ale, written by Gabriel Farkas. Enjoy! \/ Martin<\/em><\/p>\n

Truth be told, I’m a Johnny at heart. I love combos and obscure card synergies, the jankier or clunkier the better. That’s a big part of why I love the Premodern format so much: all of the combo-riffic cards in the pool. However, when I’m not trying to figure out how to synergize Varchild’s War-Riders<\/a> and Dingus Staff<\/a> into something workable, my deck archetype of choice is usually some form of Deadguy Ale.<\/p>\n

The deck was first popularized in the early 2000’s by Chris Pikula<\/a>, who was a member of “Team Deadguy” (which also included Jon Finkel and David Price), and was considered a “rogue homebrew” at the time, hence the name. Deadguy Ale is a BW midrange deck with a pretty low mana curve, and lots of removal and answers for whatever your opponent drops onto the battlefield.<\/p>\n

Most versions feature some discard (or other disruption) and land destruction, alongside Dark Ritual<\/a> and effective creatures. The creature suite is usually all about bang-for-your-buck, with cheap-ish casting costs and timely abilities (that usually complement the disruption). It relies on studs like Nantuko Shade<\/a>, Hypnotic Specter<\/a>, or Withered Wretch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some versions can lean more towards the discard-heavy side, getting closer to what would be a classic BW discard deck in 93\/94, with four The Rack<\/a>. Others go heavier on the creatures, where you may see a Knight of Stromgald<\/a> or Phyrexian Negator<\/a> show up. And still other versions may forgo creatures altogether, bringing The Rack<\/a> back in, along with cards like Pox<\/a>, Ensnaring Bridge<\/a>, and\/or Bottomless Pit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My ultra-rogue build<\/h2>\n

During the inaugural Premodern Monthly Online Tourney\u00a0organized by Jared Doucette (more info about this tournament series here<\/a>), I ran a version of Deadguy Ale that was even more homebrew than usual, with a few spicy twists I added in for fun.<\/p>\n

Deadguy Pangolin Ale, Gabriel Farkas<\/div>
<\/i>Spoiler view<\/span><\/span><\/i>List with preview card<\/span><\/span><\/i>Show\/hide sideboard<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download photo of deck<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download text file of deck<\/span><\/span><\/div>
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MAIN DECK | 60 cards<\/h4>
Instants and Sorceries: 30<\/div>
4<\/span> Dark Ritual<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Duress<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Stupor<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Vindicate<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Swords to Plowshares<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Blackmail<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Cabal Therapy<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Disenchant<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Pox<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Gerrard's Verdict<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Enlightened Tutor<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Others: 6<\/div>
4<\/span> The Rack<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Megrim<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Creatures: 6<\/div>
4<\/span> Hypnotic Specter<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Prowling Pangolin<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Lands: 18<\/div>
3<\/span> Plains<\/a><\/div>
8<\/span> Swamp<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Caves of Koilos<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Tainted Field<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

SIDEBOARD | 15 cards<\/h4>
1<\/span> Plains<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Swords to Plowshares<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Circle of Protection: Red<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Disenchant<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Smother<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Animate Dead<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Aura of Silence<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Ivory Mask<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Wrath of God<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Contagion<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Deck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n------------------------------------------------\nDeadguy Pangolin Ale, Gabriel Farkas\n------------------------------------------------\nMAIN DECK (60)\n\nInstants and Sorceries: 30\n4 Dark Ritual\n4 Duress\n4 Stupor\n4 Vindicate\n2 Swords to Plowshares\n2 Blackmail\n2 Cabal Therapy\n2 Disenchant\n2 Pox\n3 Gerrard's Verdict\n1 Enlightened Tutor\n\nOthers: 6\n4 The Rack\n2 Megrim\n\nCreatures: 6\n4 Hypnotic Specter\n2 Prowling Pangolin\n\nLands: 18\n3 Plains\n8 Swamp\n4 Caves of Koilos\n3 Tainted Field\n\n\nSIDEBOARD (15)\n1 Plains\n1 Swords to Plowshares\n2 Circle of Protection: Red\n2 Disenchant\n2 Smother\n1 Animate Dead\n2 Aura of Silence\n2 Ivory Mask\n1 Wrath of God\n1 Contagion\n------------------------------------------------\nDeck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n<\/div>
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http:\/\/premodernmagic.com<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\n

The key cards are the white removal (including Vindicate<\/a>), the black discard spells (including Gerrard’s Verdict<\/a>), and the familiar Hypnotic Specter<\/a>\/The Rack<\/a> win con. There’s a few other card choices to note as well:<\/p>\n

Cabal Therapy<\/a>. In many decks that at least splash black, especially combo decks, this card is a four-of. However, targeted discard isn’t as useful in a build like this, compared to more bulk discard. When you’re trying to get your opponent into top-deck mode as soon as possible, you want more guaranteed discard in the form of Duress<\/a>, Stupor<\/a>, or Gerrard’s Verdict<\/a>. That’s why I only included two of them in my final deck. And I probably could remove them entirely the next time I play the deck, replacing them with Addle<\/a>, Funeral Charm<\/a>, or some more removal or creatures.<\/p>\n

Megrim<\/a>. I know this card is often panned, even in discard-heavy decks. The same way that the “correct” number of enchantresses in an Enchantress deck is usually zero, it often feels like the correct number of Megrim<\/a> in discard decks should be zero as well. However, in this format it ended up being surprisingly useful, even almost single-handedly winning me a game against a Survival of the Fittest<\/a> deck, and helping me use my opponent’s Crumbling Sanctuary<\/a> to mill him out.<\/p>\n

And then we get to Prowling Pangolin<\/a>, a card some readers may not have even heard of before. I’ve firmly maintained for 15+ years that it’s an underrated card, and here’s why. At six power it’s a pretty nice finisher and can come out as early as turn 3 with a Dark Ritual<\/a>. And the enters-the-battlefield drawback can often end up being a benefit in the form of spot creature removal, essentially acting like a synthetic double Diabolic Edict<\/a>. Against creature-heavy decks like Goblins, if your opponent already has three dudes out on the board, he might be willing to sacrifice two of them in order to keep Prowling Pangolin<\/a> from staying around, not realizing that you’ve got a Smother<\/a> in your hand to take care of his third creature.<\/p>\n

Consider that there’s a grand total of only 23 creatures in the entire Premodern card pool<\/a> with at least six power, at least five toughness, and no more than five CMC. Here’s a brief summary of the other 22, compared to Prowling Pangolin<\/a>.<\/p>\n