{"id":2329,"date":"2023-09-27T00:22:24","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T22:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/?p=2329"},"modified":"2023-09-27T00:25:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T22:25:26","slug":"leanstill-and-euros-prep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/leanstill-and-euros-prep\/","title":{"rendered":"Leanstill and Euros Prep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello Premodern people!<\/p>\n

The upcoming weekend it’s time for the Euro champs<\/a> in Darmstadt, Germany. With around 200+ players registered for the main event on Saturday, we’re once again expecting to break the record for a real-life Premodern tournament, currently held by this year’s North American champs at Lobstercon, with 186 players (the same record-breaking cycle as last year, I believe). The weekend is going to be packed with side events but mostly I’m looking forward to just hang out with Premodern folks from all over\u2014I hope to see a lot of you guys there!<\/p>\n

I’ve been mulling about my deck choice for Euros quite a bit. Last year I played a control-style Lands deck with Humility<\/a> and Decree of Justice<\/a>, and this year, one of my candidate decks is UW Standstill featuring the same cards. I guess I just got a thing for these cards.<\/p>\n

Leanstill<\/h2>\n

I’ve been tinkering a lot with this deck, with the main goal of making it better against fast creature based decks like Goblins and Elves, compared to the stock Landstill versions. I’ve playtested numerous iterations of the deck in 136 games against myself, and some against other persons too. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

I’ve tried various combinations of numbers of Phyrexian Furnace<\/a>, Impulse<\/a> and Fact or Fiction<\/a>, Annul<\/a>, Absorb<\/a>, Seal of Cleansing<\/a> etc, with some Lat-Nam’s Legacy<\/a> thrown in the mix as well. I’ve also tried a more tap-out oriented build with the full set of Meddling Mage<\/a> and Exalted Angel<\/a> in the main deck.<\/p>\n

This is where I’m at right now.<\/p>\n

Leanstill<\/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: 27<\/div>
4<\/span> Swords to Plowshares<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Portent<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Counterspell<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Impulse<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Disenchant<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Decree of Justice<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Mana Leak<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Wrath of God<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Annul<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Others: 7<\/div>
4<\/span> Standstill<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Humility<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Phyrexian Furnace<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Lands: 26<\/div>
4<\/span> Plains<\/a><\/div>
5<\/span> Island<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Dust Bowl<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Mishra's Factory<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Adarkar Wastes<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Flooded Strand<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Coastal Tower<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Forbidding Watchtower<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

SIDEBOARD | 15 cards<\/h4>
1<\/span> Rain of Blades<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Hydroblast<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Stifle<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Annul<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Blue Elemental Blast<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Warmth<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Circle of Protection: Red<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Disenchant<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Meddling Mage<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Stroke of Genius<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Blinding Angel<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Deck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n------------------------------------------------\nLeanstill\n------------------------------------------------\nMAIN DECK (60)\n\nInstants and Sorceries: 27\n4 Swords to Plowshares\n4 Portent\n4 Counterspell\n4 Impulse\n2 Disenchant\n2 Decree of Justice\n3 Mana Leak\n3 Wrath of God\n1 Annul\n\nOthers: 7\n4 Standstill\n2 Humility\n1 Phyrexian Furnace\n\nLands: 26\n4 Plains\n5 Island\n2 Dust Bowl\n4 Mishra's Factory\n4 Adarkar Wastes\n4 Flooded Strand\n2 Coastal Tower\n1 Forbidding Watchtower\n\n\nSIDEBOARD (15)\n1 Rain of Blades\n2 Hydroblast\n2 Stifle\n1 Annul\n1 Blue Elemental Blast\n2 Warmth\n1 Circle of Protection: Red\n1 Disenchant\n2 Meddling Mage\n1 Stroke of Genius\n1 Blinding Angel\n------------------------------------------------\nDeck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n<\/div>
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http:\/\/premodernmagic.com<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\n

As you can see I’ve trimmed off some fat, cutting Fact or Fiction<\/a> entirely and going down to two copies of Decree of Justice<\/a>, as I found that I was often cursing for having these in my hand in the early game for no good. Hence, Leanstill.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Inspired by the Stifle-Nought decks, I’ve added the full set of Portent<\/a>. It makes for more keepable hands, and smooths out the mana. This is desirable, since you really want to have access to double white on turn four, to cast Wrath of God<\/a> and Humility<\/a> on curve. And speaking of Humility<\/a>, I run two copies, compared to the standard single copy. The card is so powerful, not only against the aggressive tribal decks, but also against all sorts of creature based combo decks with Phyrexian Devourer<\/a> and whatnot. And a solid proactive card against Phyrexian Dreadnought<\/a> and his best buddy Meddling Mage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the full set of Portent<\/a>, we rarely need to use Impulse<\/a> early in the game to look for a land. Hence, Impulse<\/a> can help us find our bangers later in the game instead.<\/p>\n

Fact or Fiction<\/a> is a case of “kill your darlings”. As much as I love the card, I felt that it was mostly used to dig for a specific answer anyways, like a Wrath of God<\/a>. If the opponent knows what he’s doing, you’re not getting much extra value, so Impulse<\/a> basically does the job better. It can also put you in a weird spot where you need to pick the Wrath of God<\/a> pile, and be forced to bin a precious copy of Decree of Justice<\/a> or Humility<\/a> (or another Wrath!).<\/p>\n

Standstill<\/a>\u2014a.k.a. ancestral-in-a-can\u2014is our go-to source of card advantage. I think this card is amazing and I don’t get some lists recently running only three copies. It’s not unusual to just slam it on turn two, and it’s a great way to undo a mulligan. One should not be too afraid to tap out with this deck, as we can deal with most things on the board. In general, I think it’s a pipe dream to play the deck as a draw-go deck with total control anyways. You need to be a bit opportunistic with your game plan, get value where you can, and be ready to quickly switch gears and go for the throat with manlands or perhaps a couple of angels off Decree of Justice<\/a>. Games often get very grindy, every life point matters as a resource, and you often win (or lose!) by a small margin.<\/p>\n

Here are some comments about specific card choices:<\/p>\n