[Premium Article] Remora Gush Primer & Top 8 Report -- Final Evolution of Gush?

[Smmenen]

http://www.eternal-central.com/?p=2385

I got 2nd place at the Meandeck open with Remora Gush Control.   Remora Gush Control is a list that I developed immediately after the Waterbury to combat the new Mental Misstep metagame.   One of the key points in my article is that Remora is one of the best cards from which to proactively and abusively use Mental Misstep.  

This is a Gush deck that can corral the Doomsday deck, and is well positioned to beat Snapcaster Control decks, and other Gush Control decks.  I compare Remora Gush to Cobra Gush, Bob Gush, and other traditional Gush decks.  

I build on alot of the ideas I developed over the year, especially since my Gush book.  And, in some ways, this is a conclusion to my Gush book.

This is a metagame analysis, deck primer, and tournament report.   But it's also just entertainment for folks who enjoy reading about Vintage magic.  

Oh yeah, and here's the list I played in the Meandeck Open, although I suggest modifications in the article:

2nd Place, Meandeck Open,

Stephen Menendian

4 Mystic Remora
4 Gush
3 Preordain
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Force of Will
4 Mental misstep
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Flusterstorm

1 Fastbond
1 Tinker
1 Blightsteel Colossus
1 Yawgmoth's Will

1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Hurkyl's Recall

2 Trygon Predator

7 Fetchland
2 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Island
1 Volcanic Island
5 Mox
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus

Sideboard:

1 Trygon Predator
2 Ingot Chewer
1 Volcanic Island
1 Island
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast

[Commandant]

Been playing this for months, look forward to reading the article.

[Meddling Mike]

How do you combat the Mental Misstep Metagame? Base your card drawing engine around a 1cc spell. They will never see it coming.

[Onslaught]

Gush is a 1cc spell? Fascinating...

[MaximumCDawg]

Gush is a 1cc spell? Fascinating...

Just possibly he's talking about Mystic Remora, chief.

Why no Repeal?  I'm used to seeing that linked at the hip with Remora decks.

[Meddling Mike]

Gush is a 1cc spell? Fascinating...

Just possibly he's talking about Mystic Remora, chief.

Indeed.

[Onslaught]

Remora is not a draw engine.

[Troy_Costisick]

I think Stephen has finally got his dream to come true: being able to create a new Gush deck every couple of weeks.  We had Bob-Gush, then Cobra-Gush, then Maniac-Gush, now Remora-Gush, which, by the way, is not the end of Gush's evolution IMHO.  Just like Turbo Tez was not the end of Mana Drain decks' evolution or Metalworker MUD was the end of Shop's evolution.  In another month or so, I expect to see a new Gush deck ready to go

Peace,

-Troy

[Meddling Mike]

Remora is not a draw engine.

I disagree.

[diopter]

In the blue mirror your first Remora is usually some combination of bad Time Walk + bad Ancestral which is pretty good. Is it a draw engine? Not sure it matters.

Smennen: I'm always leery of your greedy land counts but I do like the heavy artifact mana configuration against Rod-poor versions of Cat Stax. Ever thought of Mana Vault in place of Mox Pearl? Seems like it would be superior in your build where your early (1) requirements aren't great but your (2) or (3) requirements are critical.

[JACO]

In the blue mirror your first Remora is usually some combination of bad Time Walk + bad Ancestral which is pretty good. Is it a draw engine? Not sure it matters.

Smennen: I'm always leery of your greedy land counts but I do like the heavy artifact mana configuration against Rod-poor versions of Cat Stax. Ever thought of Mana Vault in place of Mox Pearl? Seems like it would be superior in your build where your early (1) requirements aren't great but your (2) or (3) requirements are critical.

Diopter, I don't think Mana Vault would be a good replacement for any Mox in this deck. You are not trying to power out Tezzerets, Fact or Fictions, Gift Ungivens, or a ton of other spells with colorless mana. You ideally would want reusable mana sources to continually pay for Remora, Trygon, Demonic, Merchant Scroll, Yixlid Jailer, etc. I think just the fact that Mana Vault isn't reusable (and costs 1, instead of 0) makes all of the Moxes more valuable here.

[Smmenen]

In the blue mirror your first Remora is usually some combination of bad Time Walk + bad Ancestral which is pretty good. Is it a draw engine? Not sure it matters.

Smennen: I'm always leery of your greedy land counts but I do like the heavy artifact mana configuration against Rod-poor versions of Cat Stax. Ever thought of Mana Vault in place of Mox Pearl? Seems like it would be superior in your build where your early (1) requirements aren't great but your (2) or (3) requirements are critical.

Diopter, I don't think Mana Vault would be a good replacement for any Mox in this deck. You are not trying to power out Tezzerets, Fact or Fictions, Gift Ungivens, or a ton of other spells with colorless mana. You ideally would want reusable mana sources to continually pay for Remora, Trygon, Demonic, Merchant Scroll, Yixlid Jailer, etc. I think just the fact that Mana Vault isn't reusable (and costs 1, instead of 0) makes all of the Moxes more valuable here.

In addition to that, every Mox is at peak value in this deck.   That is because one of the strongest openings you can have without relying on restricted Sorceries or Instants is Land, Remora, Mox.   the Mox pays for the Remora the following turn, giving you free reign to do whatever you want with your land.   Mox Pearl is arguably strongest in this Gush deck than any other Gush deck. 

[diopter]

What do you do with your land though? I guess the idea is to play one of your *squint* 9 1cc spells and make your opponent lose the Mental Misstep battle. Of those, I'd only be devastated if you resolved AR, Brainstorm or maybe Fastbond.

Of course the equation changes if you have that second land. Hence my comment on your 13 land foundation.

Whenever I've dabbled at Remora I've always been most impressed when it double Time Walk me. Hence why I favor Mana Vault, to maximize the value of the second (or even third) turn it's in play. Granted my experiments are usually done in conjunction with Dark Confidant - maybe Gush has a different gameplan. Still seems like a double Time Walk to get to turn 3 is important though.

Of course, after writing that and thinking about it a bit, I've come to the realization that you probably favor Pearl precisely because a lot of your second land drops come courtesy of Preordain.

[Smmenen]

What do you do with your land though? I guess the idea is to play one of your *squint* 9 1cc spells and make your opponent lose the Mental Misstep battle. Of those, I'd only be devastated if you resolved AR, Brainstorm or maybe Fastbond.

Ideally, you play a tutor.   This is a big subject of my article, and why I added Imperial Seal.  Your goal is to tutor for Fastbond or Ancestral, and play it ASAP under the Remora.  In the non-ideal situation, you play Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, and then Gush the following turn.  

Of course the equation changes if you have that second land. Hence my comment on your 13 land foundation.

Almost all of my Gush decks since the beginning of time that I played have had 14 land maindeck.  I only went to 13 for this deck, and Paul M played 13 in his Vintage Champs list.  After alot testing, I found I could play 13 maindeck because of my overall high mana count (for a Gush deck).  21 is the most amount of total mana I've ever played in a Gush deck.

Of course, after writing that and thinking about it a bit, I've come to the realization that you probably favor Pearl precisely because a lot of your second land drops come courtesy of Preordain.

Possibly.  Isn't that the idea behind Gush decks though, going back to turbo xerox?

[diopter]

I don't have experience with Turbo Xerox, just Grow. Miracle and Super varieties. They played Brainstorm which was still close to Ancestral when combined with Gush or Land Grant even though it was only Extended. Some lists even played Opt (!!!) and I believe the original Miracle Grow played Curiosity and one-drop Merfolk (Pearl trident?). Since mulliganing was always such a huge problem, they tried to stuff a critical mass of digging. And this was with anywhere from 14 to 18 islands or island equivalents.

I know back then they equated 4 cantrips to 2 lands but I as you know, I see that as a general guideline that breaks down when you don't have a critical mass of digging.

Anyroad. I like the addition of Imperial Seal to this deck (or any Gush deck). I approach it from a different line of thinking - trying to add % points to the Shop game 1 in the most flexible way possible. Hadn't really considered it under Remora in the context of your list since I was fixated on the need to get two lands - but upon further review, the on color moxen and Lotus change the math on that play significantly.

[Smmenen]

I know back then they equated 4 cantrips to 2 lands but I as you know, I see that as a general guideline that breaks down when you don't have a critical mass of digging.

Back in the day, in Vintage, you had 4 Brainstorm, and then an coterie of much inferior cantrips, like a pair of Sleight of Hand, maybe a Disrupt or two, etc.    Consquently, you relied heavily on B-Storm.

In the second Gush era, you had 4 Brainstorm and 4 Ponder.

Today, you have 4 Preordain, 1 Brainstorm, 1 Ponder, and possibly, Tops.   What we have today actually approximates what we had in 2003, if not in pure quality, at least in quantity of threshold playable blue cantrips.    We don't have 4 Brainstorms, but you don't have to play with garbage cantrips to supplement Brainstorms.   

In any case, you have enough cantrips to justify following the original Grow rules.   

[Meddling Mike]

Ever try Gitaxian Probe in the Preordain slot?

[Smmenen]

Gitaxian Probe does not serve the Grow/Turbo Xerox function that is so desperately needed in these Gush decks.   I did test Gitaxian Probe in my Dday deck, so I have a sense of how it works in Gush decks.   

One of the key plays of this deck is turn one Remora, turn two Preordain.   I wouldn't replace a single Preordain with Probe. 

[Grand Inquisitor]

(Steve, sorry if you address this in the article, non-premium here)

What about Vendilion Clique? I've found that it can really optimize tempo either during or in anticipation of a Remora.  I've been at 1x Clique, 1x Trygon (with same 1x SB) and found it opens up a lot more options.  It's not as effective vs MUD, obviously, but it can take out a golem and can surprise a bob as well (which can be a real nuisance for these decks).

What about an earlier claim that Gush decks don't want 4cc spells?  Why 2x JTMS here?  Is this because Remora slows the game down to where you hit this curve?

Lastly, why no F/I throughout the list?  This seems like a really potent option in this metagame and has some advantages over the SB lightning bolts

[Commandant]

(Steve, sorry if you address this in the article, non-premium here)

What about Vendilion Clique? I've found that it can really optimize tempo either during or in anticipation of a Remora.  I've been at 1x Clique, 1x Trygon (with same 1x SB) and found it opens up a lot more options.  It's not as effective vs MUD, obviously, but it can take out a golem and can surprise a bob as well (which can be a real nuisance for these decks).

What about an earlier claim that Gush decks don't want 4cc spells?  Why 2x JTMS here?  Is this because Remora slows the game down to where you hit this curve?

Lastly, why no F/I throughout the list?  This seems like a really potent option in this metagame and has some advantages over the SB lightning bolts

From our testing you know I love Clique.

In Steve's book he talks a lot about Gush accelerating into Jace and how they compliment eachother. From my experience, when I was running two Jace in a similiar shell, running out Jace on T3 (assuming no other acceleration) seeing six new cards total in one turn while being able to put one to two lands back on top is really strong.

[Grand Inquisitor]

Gush accelerating into Jace

So I'm well familiar with this line of play and the synergy of Jace with Gush.  I just thought I remembered Steve arguing against the 4cc slots in Gush lists, but maybe I'm off there.

[ErtaiAdept]

I ran a list similar to this a couple weeks ago at a local tournament.  Wasn't a huge turnout (around 10 people), but it was my first, 1st place split in a long time in vintage.  Two changes I made to the list were to add in Imperial Seal and the addition of a Tendrils for an alternate win condition.  I didn't like the idea of being completely reliant on BSC since if he were to be removed from game (or your tinker was) then you become completely stuck.

The additional win con from the tendrils got me a good handful of victories in matches where if I was relying on BSC I would have lost given the circumstances.