Christmas Beatings
Deck Primer
Heya,
This is a primer for the deck “Christmas Beatings.” It was originally discussed in Stephen Menendian’s article on Star City Games: (
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/vintage/16867_So_Many_Insane_Plays_Vintage_On_A_Budget_Christmas_GR_Beatings.html).
I call this deck “Christmas Beatings” to differentiate it from the more traditional R/G Beatz decks that were played from 2007 to mid 2008. This deck and its philosophy are so different from those decks, that calling this one “R/G Beatz” as well can cause confusion. Rather than risk that, I can simply obviate the problem by giving the deck a catchy new name that Steve basically developed in his own article.
I am not going to go into the history and evolution of this deck. Stephen’s article does that exceedingly well, and I would direct any person interested in this deck to his article. In fact, I would say reading his article is key to really understanding how this deck was built and how it should be played. This primer will only give you a skin-deep understanding of the deck and what it can do.
I arranged this primer as a series of questions and answers. That’s merely to help me organize my own thoughts. There’s nothing Socratic or pejorative about it. It’s just my style
-What is this Deck about?This deck is about beating the artifact heavy environment we are currently in with budget aggro-disruption. This deck was purposely build to A) not need the Power 9 to succeed and B) punish any deck that does. While the object of this deck is trying to keep monetary costs for these cards down, it does not sacrifice any competitiveness. The current meta is absolutely dominated by Blue-based control decks that rely on artifacts with activation costs to win. Time Vault, Voltaic Key, Grindstone, Mindslaver and of course the ever-present Mox/Lotus are all targeted and hosed by this deck. Even Oath of Druids receives splash hate from the anti-artifact nature of this deck. For the current meta, there is no other deck IMHO that targets the best decks out with more laser accuracy than Christmas Beatings.
-How is it about that?First, let me throw out the deck lists then I will talk about individual card selections.
Decklist A:
4 Null Rod
4 Gorilla Shaman
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Stingscourger
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Seal of Primoridum
4 Pyroblast
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Lotus Petal
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
3 Snow-covered Forest
3 Snow-covered Mountain
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
Decklist B:
4 Null Rod
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Stingscourger
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Seal of Primoridum
4 Pyroblast
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Lotus Petal
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
3 Snow-covered Forest
3 Snow-covered Mountain
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
Decklist C:
4 Null Rod
4 Gorilla Shaman
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Stingscourger
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Seal of Primoridum
4 Pyroblast
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Lotus Petal
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
3 Snow-covered Forest
3 Snow-covered Mountain
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
Let’s talk about card choices for a little bit. I’ll begin with the artifacts. There is only one artifact accelerant in the whole deck: Lotus Petal. Having it on turn one means being able to cast a creature like Gorilla Shaman or Mogg Fanatic and still keep Red mana up for a Pyroblast. It can also mean a turn 1 Seal of Primordium which would dissuade any Oath or Tez player from dropping their combo pieces too early. If you are in a 10+ proxy environment, you can switch out the Lotus Petal for a Black Lotus. I have gone to Black Lotus in my current list just because I have plenty of proxy slots left open. However, the difference is marginal. It’s 1 out of 60 cards and almost useless if there is a Null Rod or Chalice of the Void on the table.
Speaking of those two, Chalice of the Void and Null Rod make playing Moxen nearly unthinkable. Those questioning where’s the Mox Ruby and Mox Emerald in this deck are pointed to the so-called “Unpower 8”. There are so few decks right now that do not rely on at least a partial set of Moxen/Lotuses (Ichorid being the only notable deck). Having 8 hosers against those cards in the main deck that can be cast with colorless mana means that a Christmas Beatings pilot rarely has to fear falling behind in the mana race. Chalice of the Void can come down quickly on turn 1 to help secure the board. Rod comes on-line later to make sure that nothing that manages to get through the Chalice causes any trouble. Hurkyl’s Recall and Rebuild are being played at a low ebb right now compared the to Gush/Shop era in 2007-2008. So playing multiple artifact control pieces is not nearly as risky as it used to be. Echoing Truth is seeing wide play, but this only reinforces the strength of playing both Chalice and Rod.
The heart of this deck, fittingly, is Red. Beginning with Cold Snap, WotC has seen fit to begin printing some highly disruptive and synergistic Red creatures. From then until now, we’ve gotten such all-stars Martyr of Ashes, Greater Gargadon, Stingscourger, Simian Spirit Guide, Sulfur Elemental, Magus of the Moon, Ingot Chewer, Vexing Shusher, and Fulminator Mage. These have been added to old Red creature stand-by’s like Gorilla Shaman, Mogg Fantatic, and Viashino Heretic.
Chistmas Beatings takes advantage of the best Red disruptive creatures printed since block-design began in Magic. The four main Red creatures making an appearance in this deck include Mogg Fanatic, Gorilla Shaman, Stingscourger, and Magus of the Moon. Each has its own unique and important purpose.
Mogg Fanatic might seem like the weakest of the bunch, but he accomplishes a lot of different things. Behind Mana Drain decks in popularity are the Fish decks. While Fish builds vary greatly, they do have one thing in common- lots of creatures with 1 Toughness. Mogg Fanatic can pick off key creatures like Dark Confidant, Cursecatcher, Voidmage Prodigy, and Vendilion Clique. He can also ping after blocking or being blocked by all the 2 toughness creatures Fish decks play as well. However, his real value comes against Ichorid. With Fanatic you have a ready-made Bridge from Below remover that also pings for a point of damage as he goes. Having a main deck solution to the Bridges is critically important for having a viable strategy against Dredge in game 1. In an environment where 10% of the decks might be Ichorid, Fanatic is an invaluable resource.
Gorilla Shaman was left off the original list in favor of Chalice of the Void. I’ll discuss this a little bit later on. Never-the-less, he is an important, disruptive creature and has been ever since he was printed in the venerable Alliances expansion. He can eat up Moxen, Keys, Sol Rings, and Mana Vaults with ease. Even cards like Pithing Needle (unless it’s set to the Shaman), Aether Vial, Chalice of the Void, and Grindstone are vulnerable. If you can ramp up to 5 mana somehow, he can nab artifacts like Sphere of Resistance and Time Vault. He is an all-around house against cheap, non-creature artifacts.
One of the signatures of the Eternal formats is the reliance on the tantalizing dual lands from Alpha and Revised. They empower decks but also make them vulnerable. Enter what is perhaps my most favorite creature in Magic: Magus of the Moon. He is a walking three mana bomb. In fact, he’s the only 3 mana spell I’d bother to include in this deck. If he hits the table, many decks are just mana screwed right then and there. Oath will have trouble getting green. TPS might have trouble accessing one of its colors. Tez could be cut off completely from one of its four colors. If he hits before a player has fetched out one of each of his basics, then the Christmas Beatings player has got a clear and major advantage for the rest of the game. Since a huge bulk of the business spells in this deck are Red, changing the Taigas and Wastelands to Mountains his hardly a drawback. Magus is about as a-symmetrical a bomb as Red can muster.
Finally, as far as creatures go, there’s Stingscourger. There are many Blue-based decks out there, but there is one thing that a great number of them have in common: Tinker->Colossus. Tinker/DSC wins far more games for Blue decks than I think people want to admit. All decks must have some kind of answer for it. For Red decks, the best answer for a DSC that’s made it into play is Stingscourger. For 2 mana you can bounce that menacing robot back to its owner’s hand and have an expendable blocker to use against whatever else might be coming your way that turn. He can also bounce other scary fatties like Helkite Overlord, Razormane Masticore, and Platinum Angel. One side benefit to the Scourger is that, like the Fanatic, he can remove Bridge from Below from an opponent’s graveyard if his Echo cost isn’t paid.
The correct number of Stingscourgers to play in a Christmas Beatings deck is 4. I’ve been asked if 2 or 3 would be okay, and my reply is “No.” At worst, he’s a Grizzly Bear and a chump blocker; at best, he’s your salvation against a gigantic creature you had no hope of dealing with otherwise. He has saved my butt in tournament games a dozen times or more. Stock as many of him as you can.
Beyond creatures, Red gives Christmas Beatings 4 main-deck Pyroblasts. Usually such main-deck hate is reserved for Painter’s Servant decks which can transform them into one mana Vindicates. However, in a meta absolutely dominated by Blue-based strategies, specifically Mana Drain and Fish decks, 4 Pyroblasts in the main look very enticing. First, not many control pilots anticipate Red Blasts in game 1. Having an open Red source usually does not concern them. This is a major tactical advantage that can allow you to bait them into playing a key spell only to have it countered. Second, Pyroblasts can be played off a SSG, adding to the surprise factor. Third, even if you are playing against a deck that has no Blue spells or permanents, you can still cast Pyroblast to help pump up Tarmogoyf. There is very little in the way of drawbacks to playing this spell, and the upside is quite strong.
Red isn’t alone in this deck. It’s old friend Green, a love affair dating back to the old Channel-Fireball days, lends a hand with a terrific disruptive enchantment and the most efficient beater of all time. Let’s talk about Seal of Primordium first. A sincerely fair question about this card would be, “Why play a sorcery speed enchantment when there are instant speed alternatives like Naturalize and Krosan Grip?” There are two reasons I will give and both are a little nuanced. If I don’t explain it well enough here, make a post and I’ll try to do my best in a reply.
Okay, just to deal with this first, Krosan Grip costs 3 mana, and since this deck can have trouble occasionally ramping up to three stable mana on the board I don’t feel that this deck can consistently cast Krosan Grip as much as I would like. 3 mana is asking a lot, and a casting cost that high should be reserved for something that is truly a bomb like Magus of the Moon.
Alright, with that aside, real reason #1 to play Seal of Primordium over say Naturalize: It’s free when you actually use it. I think the best comparisons can be made to the Pact line of spells (like Pact of Negation or Summoner’s Pact). Those cards cost you nothing to play immediately but you do have to pay for them eventually. You get a no-cost effect now in return for a higher cost later. There’s no denying that these cards are good and have seen play in tier 1 Vintage decks. Seal of Primordium is like a Pact card in reverse. You pay a slightly higher cost up front (Mana + opportunity costs of playing a sorcery speed spell instead of an instant) for a free effect later. There’s going to be times with this deck that you don’t have anything to do with your mana. You don’t have a creature to put in play and you’re not holding a Red Blast. In those times, Seal is great to play. You’re still actively engaging the board state, but aren’t risking your mana because you don’t have anything else to do with it at the moment. Later, when you need mana to counter spells or play a creature but at the same time need to kill an artifact or enchantment, your mana is still open to use for those purposes. The “Disenchant” effect of the Seal is not cost to you- even with a Sphere effect in play. If that Seal was a Naturalize instead, you’d have to weigh the costs of playing a disruption element over an aggro element. There’s plenty of times you need both on the same turn.
The second reason to play Seal over Naturalize (or similar card) is that once Seal of Primordium in play, only Stifle and Trickbind can counter it. Stifle is played in very small amounts in Vintage and you almost never see a Trickbind. There are decks that are extremely vulnerable to Seal- Tez and Oath specifically. Against these decks, an early Seal makes winning for them much more difficult. If you can play a Seal right off the bat, they can only hope to bounce it. Once it’s there, that’s their only strategy. And then they have to get past all your Red Blasts to do that while making sure you can’t replay it. By paying for the Seal up front, you give yourself the chance to protect it later. With an instant that does the same thing, you take a risk that casting it will tap you out and leave you with nothing to show for it. Seal can be played a much less critical time and therefore if you lose it, you have a chance to recover and execute a backup strategy. Seal of Primordium is just a much more difficult spell to deal with, and it helps to keep your options open as a player. Naturalize and other similar cards (Grip, Grudge, etc.) force you into prioritizing cards when you really shouldn’t have to IMO.
Next I come to Tarmogoyf- the beater in this deck. I really don’t have too much to say about him. His efficiency and power are well documented. He’s the best non-gigantic monster in Magic. If you don’t have any Tarmogoyfs, get some. They’re worth it. If you just can’t, you might try Call of the Herd instead since it can be replayed if countered, but it’s just not as good. I’m not sure we’ll ever see anything this good or efficient again (of course, people said the same thing about Morphling and Psychatog so who knows?).
Two cards I have failed to talk about yet are Elvish Spirit Guide and Simian Spirit Guide. I saved them towards the end because they aren’t really spells in this deck. They’re part of the mana base. Just because Christmas Beatings doesn’t play artifact acceleration, doesn’t mean it forsakes acceleration altogether. The Spirit Guides act as Lotus Petals 2-9 only better- they can’t be countered. There are few things I’ve found more satisfying than countering a Force of Will by pitching a SSG for
and playing Pyroblast, or paying
for Daze by pitching an ESG. And when you’re not doing things like that, they help to fix your mana, operate under a Moon Effect, an accelerate into cards like Null Rod, Seal of Primordium, or Magus of the Moon. You can bait contermagic all day if you’re holding a SSG and a Red Blast. But also, these things help against Duress. They are mana accelerants and aggro elements that can’t be Duressed from your hand. That is so important against decks like Tez or TPS. And, as I just hinted at, in the late game they turn into Grey Ogres that help add in that little extra damage you need to take down your opponent. The printing of SSG was a major boost for Red, and I can see its place in Vintage rising as the years roll on.
Finally, I’m going to touch on the land base for just a moment. Christmas Beatings sports 4 Wasteland and a Strip Mine. Really, this isn’t too different from any Fish deck that has Mana Denial as one of its themes. Not much to say except this package is really solid right now. There are 4 duals (Taigas) and 4 fetches (Wooded Foothills), but it’s been my experience the two rarely meet. Almost any opening hand with a fetch is also going to have a basic land of some sort in it. What I usually do is fetch for the basic land I don’t have. Wasteland is SO common right now, it’s best to go with as stable a mana base as you can. There’s not much 2 Taigas will do for you in play that a Mountain and a Forest can’t. Note the utter lack of any card with double colored mana in its casting cost in this deck. This is why you can get away with this play strategy. But really, all I can say about this land base is that it’s stable, precisely tuned (more or less land would really hurt the performance of this deck), and very flexible. You can’t ask for much more.
-What’s the deal with Gorilla Shaman and Chalice in those deck lists?Originally, Gorilla Shaman was left off the list. Importance was placed on first turn plays like Chalice for Zero and open red sources for Pyroblast. As low cost artifacts continued to become a larger part of the metagame, it became clear that Chalice wasn’t enough to stop everything. Stephen and I both came up with different ideas on how to address this.
I dropped Mogg Fanatic in favor of adding Shaman. This gave me 16 main deck anti-artifact cards. The chances of me getting at least 1 in my opening hand was pretty high. In my home meta, Tez, Oath, and Slaver are played in huge numbers. So this was a good choice. However, it weakens my game against Ichorid, and that can be significant depending upon what decks people bring to a tournament. Stephen dropped Chalice in favor of adding Shaman. This kept Fanatic in the deck to help against aggro decks and Ichorid. It also maintained the same number of anti-artifact spells, but increased the deck’s flexibility. And it saves you 40 bucks to boot. This is a budget deck after all. Which list is better? Pfft, I don’t know. I’ve made a commitment to play Stephen’s list the next chance I get, so I’ll update this portion of the primer once I do.
What I can say about the two lists is this: Stephen’s is much more adaptable to whatever deck sits across from it, my deck is much more focused on beating the top archetype in the format. Pick your poison.
-Why is it a better choice over older versions of R/G Beatz? Speed doesn’t kill anymore for aggro decks. Taiga-> Mox-> Kird Ape-> Aether Vial used to be a great first turn play for an R/G deck. Not anymore. Fast combo like TPS, powerful control decks like Tez, and a resurgence of 2 turn kill Oath decks make a piddley 2/3 creature look quite weak in comparison. Against a Prison-Shop heavy environment like we had in late 2007 and early 2008, a fast aggro weenie army is ideal. However, Shop decks have almost entirely disappeared from the current metagame. It has now become more important to disrupt your opponent’s strategy than to quickly enact your own. Right now, it is really hard to kill your opponent with a bunch of 2 power creatures before he combos off on you. At some point, there may be a place in the meta for both traditional R/G Beatz and Christmas Beatings, but right now, I feel Chistmas Beatings is the clear choice.
-So what does the deck beat?Christmas Beatings preys on what are the top archetypes in the meta right now: Tez, Oath, Slaver, Ichorid, and TPS. TPS is probably the weakest matchup in this group for this deck. However, Christmas Beatings relentlessly attacks a mana base, so it can be extremely difficult for a TPS player to combo out in a timely fashion.
Ichorid probably faces its worst game 1 matchup with this deck. Christmas Beatings packs around 17 main deck answers to Ichorid’s key cards. Those answers being Mogg Fanatic, Stingscourger, Wasteland, Strip Mine, and Magus of the Moon. In addition, it has 4 main deck Seals of Primordium to take out Ichorid’s Leyline of the Void. That’s important since this deck relies on using Fanatics and Scourgers to remove Bridges in game 1. For games 2 and 3 (if necessary), this deck can side another 4 to 10 cards making it a massive annoyance for any Dredge player than can’t get off to a quick start.
-What does this deck lose to?Christmas Beatings can have trouble with Fish, Shop Agro, and Elves, and often will lose to Goblins, traditional R/G Beatz. The Fish matchup is hard because the strategies are so similar. That means lots of dead cards. The good news is they have dead cards too, but unless you’re packing 4 Pyrokinesis and 2+ Dead//Gone in your sideboard, you’ll have a tough time keeping up with Fish’s card advantage engines.
Shop Agro poses a problem because they can jump out ahead in a hurry. Razormane Masticore and Sundering Titan are huge problems for this deck. The deck does have answers. 4 Seals of Primordium, 4 Wastelands, and 4 Magus of the Moons help a lot, but a first turn Juggernaught is really scary. Other things like Sphere of Resistance, Trinisphere, and Tangle Wire also hamper this deck’s strategy. All this can be taken care of with a sideboard sporting Ancient Grudge and/or Ingot Chewers, but the sideboards I’ve seen don’t pack that much artifact hate since Shop decks are a small part of the meta right now. If Shop decks do become more popular, ironically the matchup will become better as sideboards adapt to the change in the environment.
Elves are really annoying. Thankfully, the archetype seems to be declining in popularity as far as Vintage goes. I don’t know why, though, honestly. It’s cheap to build, fun to play, and decently consistent as far as combo goes in Vintage. Game 1, you have to rely on well timed Fanatics or a Chalice set at 1 early. Game 2 and 3 you can bring in some creature hate, but it might not help. If you can stop the initial rush, then you have a good shot at winning. Once they get going, however, Elves is nearly impossible to stop.
Christmas Beating’s worst matchup, somewhat surprisingly, is against the decks that can be viewed as its forefathers: Goblins and R/G Beatz. Fast weenie hordes pose major problems for this deck. Red has some great mass removal spells like Pyroclasm, Earthquake, Firespout, and Volcanic Fallout for instance. However, the problem is those cards will wipe out your own creatures at the same time. So, Christmas Beatings must rely on cards like Pyrokinesis and Dead//Gone. Right now, Goblins and R/G Beatz are played at near zero levels, but should they suddenly rise in power, Christmas Beatings will suffer.
-What goes in the Sideboard?A typical Christmas Beatings sideboard might look like this:
3 Red Elemental Blast
4 Pyrokinesis
2 Krosan Grip
4 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Pithing Needle
The Red Blasts are there to add fuel to the Anti-Drain fire. They also can work as anti-creature spells against a Fish deck. Pyrokinesis is a free board sweeper so long as there aren’t too many other creatures opposing you at the same time. Krosan Grip comes in against Tez and Oath to take out combo pieces before things get out of hand. The Crypts and Needles are sideboard hate for Ichorid, though the Needles can be brought in against Tez and Painter decks as well. These are by no means the only cards that can go into a Christmas Beatings deck. In fact, I review the other options next.
-What are the alternate options?Ancient Grudge- Of all the effecient artifact kill there is in Magic, I like Ancient Grudge the best for this deck. Ideally it can kill 2 artifacts, but unlike Rack and Ruin, the three mana cost can be spread out over more than one turn. It also utilizes Green mana in its Flashback which helps to leave Red mana open for Red Blasts. If Ancient Grudge gets countered on the first cast, it's not a total loss. Flashback will let you play it again to kill whatever key artifact is on the board. If Shop decks make a return, this is the number one card Chrstmas Beatings decks can turn to for help.
Deglamer- I personally have started using this card in my sideboard for a number of reasons. It’s additional enchantment hate which is much needed against Oath. It also bounces DSC.
Dead//Gone- I like this card for a lot of reasons. First, it can pick off key creatures like Bob, Welder, Canonist, and Spirit Tokens from Orchard. Second, I’ve used it in a pinch to put one of my creatures in the graveyard to remove Bridges against Ichorid decks. And third, it bounces DSC. I’ve lost more games to Darksteel Colossus than any other single card I think. Anything that is capable of helping me out against that beast is an automatic consideration IMO.
Guttural Response- I honestly don’t like this card in this deck. Its advantage is that it can be cast off any Spirit Guide. However, it can’t kill blue permanents like Tez, Fish Creatures, and Propaganda or counter sorceries like Tinker. If the meta ever becomes 75% Mana Drain, then this card might be thought-worthy. Until then, it remains marginal.
Moment’s Peace- I tested this card a few weeks ago against a Progenitus Oath deck. My inexperience with the card showed in my poor play, but the effect it had on the game was palpable. If I had just one more attack phase, I would have won. And that was with Progenitus and Magister Sphynx in play. If Progenitus starts to see more play, Moment’s Peace may become a viable way of dealing with him.
Pyrostatic Pillar- Against TPS, this card rocks. It’s two edged; you have to be careful when you play it or you just make the Storm player’s job easier. But once you start whittling his life down, this card can seal a game.
Root Maze- When Stephen and I were first working on this deck, Root Maze was on the list for a long time. It had some great synergy with Pithing Needle and the over-all mana denial strategy of the deck. It hosed Storm players because lands and artifacts played from the GY would come into play tapped. Oath would be stalled because Orchard would come into play tapped, giving the Christmas Beatings player a chance to find an answer. However, Oath and Storm just aren’t played enough to justify this card right now, and Magus of the Moon is just a much bigger bomb. Steve did a much better job in his article explaining why this card didn’t make the final cut.
Thorn of Amethyst- This is another anti-Storm card. Its drawback doesn’t really affect Christmas Beatings all that much. It does make it more expensive to cast Red Blasts and Seals, but the real business of the deck is unaffected. I’m not sure Thorn will ever become part of Christmas Beating’s list of playables, but it’s something to keep in mind.
Xantid Swarm- I look at Xantid Swarm as more of a combo protector than an aggro enabler. Christmas Beatings already has plenty of anto-countermagic cards. But if Mana Drain increases its share of the meta, the Swarm might become necessary to protect Seals and Rods. We’ll have to wait and see how much more countermagic gets crammed into decklists.
Greater Gargadon- This card is pretty conditional. It’s awesome against Oath and Ichorid, but not that great against anything else. If Progenitus Oath becomes a major player, then I can see GG’s entering the sideboard. Otherwise, the Gargadons need to stick to decks that sport Vexing Shusher.
Leyline of the Void- In Stephen’s original list for Christmas Beatings he included Leyline of the Void as an anti-Ichorid card. I’ve felt that with Seals of Primordium in the main and Ichorid often having bounce or Emerald Charm in its sideboard, Tormod’s Crypt is a better choice. However, Stephen makes a good case for Leyline in his article, and I would point you there if you want to read up on this card.
Noetic Scales- At a cost of 4, this card is almost out of this deck’s mana range. However, it’s effect is surprisingly good if a bit esoteric. Oath won’t be able to keep anything on the board and Tez decks will have win using Tez’s ultimate or find a way to get rid of the scales before playing DSC. I don’t think this card belongs in the sideboard yet, but it is one of those uncanny cards from Urza’s Block that might be worth keeping in the back of your mind.
-How does this deck play?Slowly, patiently, tightly. Let me say that again. Slowly, patiently, and tightly. This deck exists on a razor’s edge. “Stray but a little and it will fail…” as the saying goes. I’m sure this primer has made this deck out to be the Best Deck in the Format!!! But let’s be honest, decks sporting the Power 9, 4 Mana Drains or 4 Workshops have years of development behind them and lines of play that have been analyzed and improved by the best players in the format. Christmas Beatings is good. It can beat all those top tier decks, but it takes play that is highly focused and methodical.
Playing a Tarmogoyf as soon as possible or a Magus of the Moon with being reasonably sure you can get him into play is chancy. Turn 2 is the worst time to put an aggro component on the board. To win, you must first secure your position. That means playing cards like Chalice, Rod, Shaman, Seal, and Wasteland first. Putting a basic Snow-covered Mountain into play and passing the turn when you have a Pyroblast in hand is a good play. Putting a basic Snow-covered Mountain into play then casting Mogg Fanatic when you have a Pyroblast in hand is a terrible play and could cost you then entire game!
The best advice I can give is to know what your opponents play and what their most likely lines of play will be. Knowing Tez or BUG Fish inside and out is the key to beating them. Playing Christmas Beatings is playing two games at once: your hand and your opponent’s hand. It’s almost like Texas Hold ‘em poker. You use the information on the board to make educated guesses about what your opponent have and will do next, then you act accordingly. Count the number of Force of Wills played. Count the number of fetch lands used and the type of lands on the board. Think about where your opponent is weak and drive toward that. The deck is extremely flexible, so take advantage of that fact.
-How has this deck performed?When played in smaller tournaments, this deck has faired decently well. Here’s some top 8 reports from here on the Mana Drain:
http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37125.0http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37167.0http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37219.0http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37260.0http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=37345.0So far, I haven’t seen this deck played at larger tournaments (33+). I’m hoping to soon, and I’ll update this thread when it happens.
-Why isn’t this deck played more?I understand the reluctance to try Christmas Beatings. When I talk about this deck to other people, I get the “you’re kidding, right?” looks. No power, no Aether Vial, no Lightning Bolt? This deck does take a step of faith to try, but by examining its strengths and the meta’s weaknesses, it’s clear to see why this deck would have a big advantage. I honestly feel it is just as legitimate a choice as Tez, Oath, or Ichorid right now. A person who plays seriously and tightly with it in a tournament will see just how strong a choice it is. It’s my hope that this primer will encourage more experimentation with this deck and that soon we’ll have some large tournament data to examine.
-What about other colors?This deck is a Red-Green deck. Green is the absolute best compliment to the artifacts and Red cards that make up the base. However, as a thought experiment, I considered the other two colors often paired with Red: White and Black.
White:With White, you can get Grunt, Seal of Cleansing, Children of Korlis, StP, Duergar Hedge-Mage, and Ethersworn Canonist. If Storm decks come racing back to the top of the metagame, then White might be a choice worth considering, but with White you lose some really key things. First, you lose a fetch land that can get both kinds of basics you’re playing with. That means you have to play with some weird combination of Bloodstained Mire and Windswept Heath. Second, you lose ESG, which is a major factor in this deck’s acceleration. That means adding lands of some sort, which really hurts this deck. To me, it looks clunky and forced.
Black:With Black you get Fulminator Mage, Duress, Thoughtseize, Extirpate, Faerie Macabre, Dark Ritual, Dark Confidant, Cruel Edict, and Cabal Therapy. Fulminator fits with the anti-land strategy of the deck and even works with a Magus of the Moon in play. Duress, Cabal Therapy, and Thoughseize can take care of problems Red Blasts miss. Extirpate is maybe the best targeted GY hoser ever IMHO, and Farie Macabre fits in with the dual purpose creatures Christmas Beatings likes to play. Dark Ritual can sorta make up for the loss of ESG, but you gotta wonder what you’ll ritual into. Perhaps you can cobble together a Duress followed by a Magus of the Moon or Null Rod. Black does give you a fetch land that can grab both Snow-covered Mountains and Snow-covered Swamps. But Black brings no enchantment or artifact kill to the table. You must be much more aggressive in your play, and that creates chinks in the deck’s armor. Another problem is that this deck would lack any kind of large beatstick and so the clock would be very slow. It’s slow enough as it is. My fear would be that it would take so long to deal 20 points of damage, that a good player would be able to squirm out from whatever control pieces have been played and find a way to win.
-So is that it?Yeah, that’s about it. This has been a pretty long primer, so I hope you haven’t gotten too board. Again I’d refer you to Stephen’s article on Star City for more information about this deck and its evolution. If you play Christmas Beatings in a tournament, please share your experiences in the tournament report forum. If you have any questions about what I’ve written, post here. If you’re not a full member, send me a PM and I’ll paste your message into this forum and try to answer your questions or respond to your comment.
Thanks for reading, and may all your beatings be bright! (that’s a Christmas song reference if you didn’t get it
).
Peace,
-Troy_Costisick
PS: I’ll probably have to edit this post a few times to correct errors and fix spelling/grammar mistakes. If I got something wrong about a card or strategy, I apologize in advance and will try to correct it as soon as possible.
