{"id":692,"date":"2018-11-30T01:07:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T23:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/?p=692"},"modified":"2018-11-30T21:00:47","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T19:00:47","slug":"the-dreams-of-a-father-devastation-of-premodern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/the-dreams-of-a-father-devastation-of-premodern\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dreams of a Father: Devastation of Premodern"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today we have the honour to enjoy a deck tech by Erik “Sigismund” Sundberg, candidate for\u00a0Sweden’s most enthusiastic Premodern player and runner-up of the 2018 European Championships<\/a>! As usual, you’re welcome to discuss the article on Facebook<\/a> or on Discord<\/a>. \/ Martin<\/em><\/p>\n

Intro<\/h2>\n

New horizons, untouched land, unsolved meta. There is something romantic, almost poetic, with a new format and an open meta. The intense browsing, the frantic joy, the excitement. You could call a new format an undiscovered paradise to every brewer. Premodern is one of these romantic undiscovered paradises.<\/p>\n

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The question every deck builder, in every meta, tries to answer is: \u201chow do I build the most efficient deck against the expected field\u201d? If there is a really stale meta you can engineer something really specific. A deck that is tailored to find the gap in the meta that can exploit the other decks’ weaknesses. For example, if 75% play artifact decks it is efficient to play Null Rod<\/a> in your main deck and not in the sideboard. But if there is a new meta you can\u2019t do these things because you don\u2019t have enough information to create something reactive that is efficient.<\/p>\n

The common sense (a lot of pros have advocated this during the years) is that in a new meta you need to play aggressive decks because there are no wrong \u201cthreats\u201d but a lot of wrong \u201canswers\u201d. Hence, a lot of people have been doing great with aggressive decks like Mono Red and Zoo when new metas in different formats have popped up. You can see the same tendency in Premodern. I’m looking at you, Jackal Pup<\/a>, always a reliable threat.<\/p>\n

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So when I started to brew in Premodern I knew that I wanted to build a deck to win with that was built on a solid theoretical foundation. You could argue that I really (really) have an aversion against playing aggressive decks, but at the same time I wanted to build a deck to win the European Championships with. Add to this that I am at home on parental leave, taking care of my baby, so I really didn\u2019t want to spend my precious time thinking about and playing with small red dudes. So the solution was not to find something proactive but rather to find something reactive that was so general and powerful that it could answer every possible deck in the format…<\/p>\n

An undiscovered paradise triggers different things in different persons. Some people just go there and smell the beautiful flowers while others just try to be the fun police. But some aren’t looking for anything logical, like winning. They can’t be charmed, enthused, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some MTG players just want to watch the world burn.<\/a><\/p>\n

Finally I found an answer that didn\u2019t look like a pithing needle. I found my sledge hammer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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A card that attacks both lands and creatures. Perfect. The only problem was the obvious card disadvantage. How to solve that? A frantic search in the catalog took place (the Premodern card search page<\/a> is really awesome). Should I play Squee, Goblin Nabob<\/a>? Gush<\/a> and Accumulated Knowledge<\/a>? My baby had no great answers to my question. But soon I logged onto Facebook and watched my old beloved Land Tax<\/a> become unbanned<\/a>. Last time I played Land Tax<\/a> was in Vintage when Mercadian Masques hit the format so I thought I should be able to put something together with that old knowledge. I remembered Scroll Rack<\/a> and Moxen. The deck was just waiting to be assembled.<\/p>\n

The Pink Prison deck<\/h2>\n

So no more ramblings. Here is the deck I created and placed second with at the European Championships<\/a>. Special thanks to Jaok and Arvid for some clever ideas and their playtest energy because it seemed a bit sad to play versus this deck, as it tries to lock people out from playing Magic as soon as possible. The easiest way to accomplish that is to fuel Devastating Dreams<\/a> with Land Tax<\/a> but there is a lot of synergy packed in the deck and a lot of small combos and trickery that you can do with different combinations of cards. With Scroll Rack<\/a> and eight tutors the deck can be a bit daunting to run but you should always remember: You are the one with the sledge hammer. Relax. Wait for them to play stuff and the hammer will blow them away. May I present to you\u2014The Pink Prison (aka Gigapede Wins):<\/p>\n

Euro Champs 2018: Erik Sundberg, 2nd<\/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>
Others: 24<\/div>
4<\/span> Mox Diamond<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Land Tax<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Scroll Rack<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Winter Orb<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Tangle Wire<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Sphere of Resistance<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Peace of Mind<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Aura of Silence<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Instants and Sorceries: 15<\/div>
4<\/span> Enlightened Tutor<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Gamble<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Devastating Dreams<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Swords to Plowshares<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Lands: 20<\/div>
6<\/span> Plains<\/a><\/div>
6<\/span> Mountain<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Rishadan Port<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Undiscovered Paradise<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Creatures: 1<\/div>
1<\/span> Gigapede<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

SIDEBOARD | 15 cards<\/h4>
3<\/span> Tormod's Crypt<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Black Vise<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Ivory Tower<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Seal of Cleansing<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Warmth<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Pyroclasm<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Defense Grid<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Arcane Laboratory<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Light of Day<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Deck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n------------------------------------------------\nEuro Champs 2018: Erik Sundberg, 2nd\n------------------------------------------------\nMAIN DECK (60)\n\nOthers: 24\n4 Mox Diamond\n4 Land Tax\n4 Scroll Rack\n4 Winter Orb\n4 Tangle Wire\n2 Sphere of Resistance\n1 Peace of Mind\n1 Aura of Silence\n\nInstants and Sorceries: 15\n4 Enlightened Tutor\n4 Gamble\n4 Devastating Dreams\n3 Swords to Plowshares\n\nLands: 20\n6 Plains\n6 Mountain\n4 Rishadan Port\n4 Undiscovered Paradise\n\nCreatures: 1\n1 Gigapede\n\n\nSIDEBOARD (15)\n3 Tormod's Crypt\n1 Black Vise\n1 Ivory Tower\n3 Seal of Cleansing\n1 Warmth\n3 Pyroclasm\n1 Defense Grid\n1 Arcane Laboratory\n1 Light of Day\n------------------------------------------------\nDeck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n<\/div>
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SIDEBOARD<\/h4>
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http:\/\/premodernmagic.com<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\n

Here are some comments on specific card choices.<\/p>\n