Human Ingenuity

[Guli]

There is no such goal of the deck. Both sides offer the deck benefits. I dont know the statistics of flips.

[brianpk80]

Mayor usually flips in the Shop and Dredge matches, which is where he's needed most as Howlpack Alpha.  He will flip in a Landstill match if he's not dealt with promptly but any Landstill player with half a brain will remove him ASAP.  He flips about half the time maybe a little more v. Fish.  More and more, I have seen Meddling Mages naming Mayor of Avabruck.  He'll also flip if Thalia + Wasteland or Stony Silence present an early roadblock.  I don't expect him to flip v. Combo or Grixis and in those matches, I generally side out all or part of the aggro suite, except Exava for Grixis who kills the Jace. 

Serracollector, I tested the Kessig Malcontents and found they did not deal much damage because creatures are constantly being removed these days and I always wanted to deal damage to an opponent's creature which it can't do.  Exava isn't replaceable at this point since she keeps proving to be one of the strongest tactics in the deck, breaking out of Jace locks and fortifying against the Bolts/Fire/Pyroclasm tactics that harm small creatures.     

[xouman]

@Guli: I understand that both sides of mayor are greatly appreciated. However I use to play red and was wondering about red "Transformers". The thing is that they are really poor untransformed, so the transforming tempo is absolutely vital for those cards.

@brian: thanks for your feedback. I'm a bit surprised that mayor uses to transform against dredge, and also that it is one of the best guys. Understanding that against combo or even control you side out the aggro plan. Assuming this SB

SB:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Extirpate
1 Sin Collector
1 Pithing Needle
1 Skylasher
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 True Believer
1 Wasteland
1 Mishra’s Factory
1 Rayne, Academy Chancellor

what do you usually side in against bomberman or grixis? thanks!

[brianpk80]

@brian: thanks for your feedback. I'm a bit surprised that mayor uses to transform against dredge, and also that it is one of the best guys. Understanding that against combo or even control you side out the aggro plan. Assuming this SB

SB:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Extirpate
1 Sin Collector
1 Pithing Needle
1 Skylasher
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 True Believer
1 Wasteland
1 Mishra’s Factory
1 Rayne, Academy Chancellor

what do you usually side in against bomberman or grixis? thanks!

Against Dredge, Mayor on the play usually ends up as Howlpack Alpha, since they want to play Bazaar and discard Dredge creatures.  He can buy a critical amount of time and occasionally I've won w. Mayor/Thalia/Waste but no grave hate.  I wouldn't rely on that plan, but it is something that happens from time to time.  

The sideboard from that day was tweaked because all of the Dredge players were absent so we were near certain the match wouldn't come up.  For an open field, it needs more Dredge hate.  

Against Bomberman, you want to resolve Null Rod/Stony Silence but that's destined to seldom happen v. the UW variant which runs 15 counterspells including 3 Spell Snare.  Its removal is Disenchant or Devout Witness so if you're ever in the position where this match is a huge concern but something like UR Landstill isn't (which has dedicated red artifact hate), it may be better to run Rod for the easier mana cost because it doesn't distinguish between artifacts and enchantments.  The Esper version is easier to prey on because it distracts itself w. Bobs which weakens the mana base and allows threats to slip past early defenses, which is exactly what Bomberman doesn't want to see happen.  For the UW version, Wasteland is not strong so I swap one with the Factory in the sideboard.  It would stay maindeck for the Esper version.  I usually have Tormod's Crypt in the sb for Dredge and I'd put it in since it's cheap and elegant, but if you go overboard with grave hate, they'll get you with Jaces, Trinket beats, and that God-awful Clique.  From that sb list you quoted, I'd put in Rayne, Pithing Needle, Extirpate, Skylasher, and Mindbreak Trap.  For Grixis, I'd put in Traps, Ethersworn, Grafdigger's Cage, Sin Collector, Rayne, and Pithing Needle.  It's not an easy match; they'll often try to rush-Tinker you, which can randomly win for them but if you foil it, they're in a bad position.  If the BSC has been dispensed with and you have Abrupt Decay in hand or Null Rod/Silence in play for the Vault, you're probably going to win.  Never attack them with a Dark Confidant if they have 1U open because losing him in a combat trade to a Snapcaster is terrible.  I usually sideboard out Deathrite Shaman v. Bomberman but keep it for Grixis.  In both matches, I also usually side out 1 or 2 mana sources.  Exava and Lyev are good for busting out of hopeless Jace-locks. Hope that helps!  

[serracollector]

As a 4cc human that benefits from EITHER side of mayor and is good himself in general, would

Master of the Wild Hunt be something to try out? It provides your virtual ca, provides "direct damage"  to creatures, and can double your army of 3/3 wolves with a flipped mayor. I have not got to test him yet, but I think it has merit.

[xouman]

Thanks you, it totally helps. I'm realizing how bad I'm focusing both matches. In my head, they are quite similar, but then you focus it with different SB choices. The problem of those decks is that are really hard to disrupt, and you need a solid clock or you will lose the game. In my last tournament I lost to grixis after attacking with gorilla shaman like 12-13 times, and against bomberman do a missplay after a long battle nearly decided by SOFI. Lodestone golem is the closest I have find to disruption+clock (3 or more). Mayor is solid beating, but not truly disruption (other than opponent attacking disruption)

Rayne seems poor, but I have never played it or against it so I have no idea. the rest of sb  is really interesting.

[Guli]

Mayor has a nasty way of disrupting control decks. If you for example turn 1 Mayor, and they can't get rid of it with a Lightning Bolt or Swords to Plowshares, the game could be over already. It is actually a very fast clock if left unchecked.

3+6+9=18dmg (turn 4 on the play)

This is why it works so nicely against dredge if you manage to do follow ups like wasteland and thalia to slow dredge down. Dredge is not prepared to deal with an early Mayor onslaught.

The Workshop match up is more tricky, because they run Metamorph. If they copy your Alpha (transformed Mayor) they get the token right away, and their Alpha will never flip back because that is how the rules work. Another reason to run Abrupt Decays if you ask me... The Mayor is nice to combat Revokers and Golems, however you will still need to deal with Forgemaster and/or Steel Hellkite and/or Wurmcoil Engine. The problem is, we will most likely have to use the Swords to Plowshares on Lodestone Golem. The Mayor plan against Workshop was initially designed in such a way that we dealt with WORKSHOP itself with additional strip effects using Ghost Quarters. You burn their bridges, isolating Lodestone Golem, then send the wolves. In other words, you deny them more than 3-4 mana as best as you can. Now, there is even access to a card like Deathrite Shaman, to shut off Crucible comebacks. I guess some pilots feel a bit more confidant to beat the Shop deck. Me, I don't believe it is as easy as it looks. The Workshop decks are very flexible now, with Revokers, Metamorph, Forgemaster, etc...

Flagstones and Quarters might be an idea to look into.

[brianpk80]

As a 4cc human that benefits from EITHER side of mayor and is good himself in general, would

Master of the Wild Hunt be something to try out? It provides your virtual ca, provides "direct damage"  to creatures, and can double your army of 3/3 wolves with a flipped mayor. I have not got to test him yet, but I think it has merit.

It's an efficiently designed card that might advance board position when you're already ahead but being a 4CC in Bolt range that is shut off by Jace unsummons works against it.  A 4CC that can assist with direct damage to creatures would be Ranger of Eos fetching a singleton Ulvenwald Tracker and Noble Hierarch.  Attack with Exalted and then kill while the bonus still applies.  Deathrite Shamans and Gorilla Shaman two other viable targets, especially since you then don't have to play multiple Gorilla Shamans which helps cause it's one of the worst cards to draw more than once in the course of a game.  Rafiq of the Many is a 4CC that could be good in some time periods, but not with all the Lightning Bolts floating around.  Everything he wants to do today, Exava does better.  

Thanks you, it totally helps. I'm realizing how bad I'm focusing both matches. In my head, they are quite similar, but then you focus it with different SB choices. The problem of those decks is that are really hard to disrupt, and you need a solid clock or you will lose the game. In my last tournament I lost to grixis after attacking with gorilla shaman like 12-13 times, and against bomberman do a missplay after a long battle nearly decided by SOFI. Lodestone golem is the closest I have find to disruption+clock (3 or more). Mayor is solid beating, but not truly disruption (other than opponent attacking disruption)

Rayne seems poor, but I have never played it or against it so I have no idea. the rest of sb  is really interesting.

There was only room for her because of the extra sideboard space from Dredge being absent.  However, I did side her in every match of the day because she has such broad application.  Figuring if some games last 3-4 turns and people play Dark Confidant which would net 1-3 cards over the course of a short game, it's clear that anything that draws 1-3 cards on an uncounterable body and potentially much more needs to be considered.  The card draw is most obscene in an Oath match where you draw a card every time you get an Orchard token, every time they Oath, every time you're Duressed, and a card for every copy of Tendrils of Agony (draw 9-10 cards), which helps you dig for Mindbreak Trap.  It's better than Dark Confidant here.  The list of other cards that trigger her draw ability is huge: Wasteland, Strip Mine, Vendlion Clique, Jace, AEther Spellbomb, Duplicant, Abrupt Decay, Fire/Ice (two draws), Lightning Bolt, Liliana of the Veil, Swords to Plowshares, Cabal Therapy, Thoughtseize, Intuition, Ancient Grudge, Hurkyl's Recall, Nature's Claim, Wispmare, Ingot Chewer, Darkblast, and more.  These are the kind of spells one can expect to find 8-12x of in most T1 decks.  So overall, Rayne is not indispensable and is one of the first things to cut when space gets tight, but she is by no means poor.  Hopefully that makes sense.  

[xouman]

Again, thank you for your help. I completely passed the "YOU" in that text, so I thought that only applied on permanents I control, so was limited to interactions with creatures and lands. Still I'm not sure if the effect eally worths T1 play, but it's strong indeed. At least very interesting.

My mistake, as usually

[brianpk80]

No prob.  I agree it's not the best card for T1 in a vacuum, but with Dredge absent, it gave breathing room in the sideboard so that for every match she was able to come in for the cards that are weak in that match-up, ie Sin Collector v. Shops and Batterskull v. Oath.

[Guli]

So after the unrestriction of regrowth I was tinkering with the idea of a Mayor FISH design. A real FISH deck, with counters, Delvers, draw, Snapcasters, etc... A deck that uses a lot of tempo plays to beat and have a counter wall just enough to kill the opponent.

That being said we still would like to cast several time walks, recalls and Jace during the course of a game. The red is to keep aggro (Shop for example) in check. The thrump of this deck is that it runs Mayor and Magus. The normal Delver don't use these cards. Mayor gives a huge boost to our snaps and delvers, and can win games alone against workshop decks.

4 Delver of Secrets
3 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Force of Will
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Preordain
1 Black Lotus
2 Island
2 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Forest
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Volcanic Island
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Taiga
3 Magus of the Moon
1 Mox Ruby
1 Flusterstorm
3 Regrowth
1 Time Walk
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Mental Misstep
1 Mystical Tutor

SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 4 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Lightning Bolt
SB: 2 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Nature's Claim
SB: 1 Regrowth
SB: 4 Grafdigger's Cage

This deck shows, to those who aren't seeing it, what the difference is between Cavern Mayor builds and Fish Mayor builds.

[psyburat]

I disagree with the inclusion of Mayor of Avabruck in RUG Delver.  It seems like a win-more, and ties up your mana from playing stronger spells.  He's definitely strong in Brian's Cavern Mayor Fish deck, but that doesn't mean he's a good bleed into every deck with Humans.

[Guli]

I disagree with the inclusion of Mayor of Avabruck in RUG Delver.  It seems like a win-more, and ties up your mana from playing stronger spells.  He's definitely strong in Brian's Cavern Mayor Fish deck, but that doesn't mean he's a good bleed into every deck with Humans.

Test it out, it really is proving to be strong.

[John Jones]

Idk, mayor could be really good. Right now decks don't do something everyturn. Salvagers wants the game to go long, same thing with shops and same thing with landstill. Sticking this guy early could be fine.

How are the regrowths?

[Guli]

Regrowth and Snapcasters have been giving me a lot of recalls :p. Sometimes they ensure a land drop, sometimes they get back Jace. In a deck with so many instant and sorcery, delver and regrowth are always good.

I wanted to play with Gush and a Fastbond, but decided not to, because of Lodestone and Thalia.

Regrowth is not affected by Cage's, so there is a SB plan where you bring in Cages and the 4th Regrowth, and you can side out snaps, bring in more counter magic. (Combo and Dredge and against Snapcontrol) Also, your Ingot plan suddenly becomes more fruitful, you can regrowth that Ingot.

What I am trying to show here is how Mayor can be strong in a true tempo fish deck. Having 4/3 Delvers and 3/2 Snapcasters is really a huge clock, we all know how a 3/2 Delver can quickly put you in the red zone, now it is even faster. Mayor and Magus Moon also have interesting synergy.

[StanleyAugust]

Interesting idea with Mayor in a RUG shell. However, I'm not sure if Goyf and/or Scavenging Ooze isn't simply just better, but I think it's worth trying out indeed. Also, I'm not sure if I like Magus here. I would probably prefer something else in the spot and then include Wasteland and Strip Mine.

The list seems very weak vs Oath and Burning Oath, though, which I think is a major concern. I think a starting point would be to drop the Preordain's and include 2 Nature's Claim and 1 of something.

Oh, and since you mention Grafdigger's Cage, Guli, would anyone mind commenting on the exclusion of Grafdigger's Cage in the main deck? If my recent testing has shown me anything, it is that Grafdigger's Cage is very good in the main deck as well. Especially with the rise of Burning Oath. I mean having a card that shuts down Oath, Tinker, Yawgmoth's Will, Snapcaster Mage and is a main deck answer to Dredge is simply too good to omit in my opinion.

[Guli]

I like that the idea of Mayor in a Delverish shell sparks some interest. I am in no manner advocating that the list I posted is superb and can not be tweaked. Obviously, it could use tweaks.

Well I find it important to use Snapcaster in this deck. I would like to cut Cage all together and solve the problems in another way. Any suggestions?


I was thinking of using Ral Zarek, Time Vault and maybe intuitions. With the regrowth presence, it might be a good combo (plan B).

[serracollector]

Man I wish I still gad cockatrice so I could test w you guys. Inmade a list almost exactly like yours except I dropped red went straught ug and I use temporal spring!! A long forgotten "time walk" if you will. Temporal spring allows you so much tempo gain especially with nobles and mayor. Bouncing  their one land turn 2 or bouncing thirr tinkerbot on top of thier deck or simply bouncing a land to gaurantee they cant cast 2 spells to flip mayor is awesome. In testing even putting a jace on top or a bot has won me games due to thier bob. Making sure they take 4-11 damage off a bob flip and pushing them 1 draw behind is amazing. Should def test out temporal spring w regrowth/snaps, its pretty silly tempo gain.

[brianpk80]

Man I wish I still gad cockatrice so I could test w you guys. Inmade a list almost exactly like yours except I dropped red went straught ug and I use temporal spring!! A long forgotten "time walk" if you will. Temporal spring allows you so much tempo gain especially with nobles and mayor. Bouncing  their one land turn 2 or bouncing thirr tinkerbot on top of thier deck or simply bouncing a land to gaurantee they cant cast 2 spells to flip mayor is awesome. In testing even putting a jace on top or a bot has won me games due to thier bob. Making sure they take 4-11 damage off a bob flip and pushing them 1 draw behind is amazing. Should def test out temporal spring w regrowth/snaps, its pretty silly tempo gain.

What happened to your copy of Cockatrice?  They still have a server. 

Temporal Spring seems painful for an opponent.  I'm debating the merits of Azorius Charm in 5C Mayor, which has a similar effect but can also help with Bob life-loss management.  It's good against Tinker-bot, but not so great against Oath.   

[oshkoshhaitsyosh]

I'm pretty sure cockatrice is still shut down. I tried it a few days ago and it wouldn't connect. Maybe I have to re download cockatrice? Is anyone able to connect and play online against ppl???

[brianpk80]

I'm pretty sure cockatrice is still shut down. I tried it a few days ago and it wouldn't connect. Maybe I have to re download cockatrice? Is anyone able to connect and play online against ppl???

I heard it was going open source now or something; there is a server here: http://www.woogerworks.com
 

[serracollector]

Im currently using a touchpad for internet no service at home so no online testing for me. Mainly I play vs myself using top tier decks. Yea if using thalia then temporal spring isnt so hot but in human bug variants w bob mayor noble and delver I been utilizing recoil + temporal spring + regrowth for massive tempo and ca.  Recoil and temporal spring have been pushed to the wayside over the years for cheaper answers, but with all the easy mana development versus blue, and so many answers to mud I think both are very playable cards atm. People love to drop everything asap now, so recoil is amazing bounce and removal most times and temporal spring is about the best timewalk efx besides the card itself.

[Guli]

Im currently using a touchpad for internet no service at home so no online testing for me. Mainly I play vs myself using top tier decks. Yea if using thalia then temporal spring isnt so hot but in human bug variants w bob mayor noble and delver I been utilizing recoil + temporal spring + regrowth for massive tempo and ca.  Recoil and temporal spring have been pushed to the wayside over the years for cheaper answers, but with all the easy mana development versus blue, and so many answers to mud I think both are very playable cards atm. People love to drop everything asap now, so recoil is amazing bounce and removal most times and temporal spring is about the best timewalk efx besides the card itself.

Well, people also adapted to the Jace reality. Snapcontrol, Bomberman and Human Cavern decks all run cards with etb value so that a bounce would not really be good. That being said, it does appeal to me, that potential tempo play you are talking about. Even against shop or thalia, these lists with snaps, regrowth, moxes and card draw seem to be very capable of building up a strong mana base relatively fast through the wastelands and spheres. All it takes is a land or two and mox with a bolt to move to the mid game (after killing their golem or thalia). Problem is usually additional removal. You can't always rely on Jace, so I try to run Sabotage and use the recursion effects to replay bolts. Still sometimes you need that card that fits the curve, hence I see your suggestion as a viable option. But I am not convinced though, I just see that it has merit, that is all.

The woogerworks server has been running for a while now, it is just not very stable at times, but usually I can test smoothly. Brian and myself are very active these days, you can find us there.

Next to the little excursion with the Delver Mayor approach, I have been thinking about cards like Phyrexian Revoker and Chalice of the Void again for the more standard Human Cavern deck. This has to do with Abrupt Decay, a card that only trades, but is a safe trade because it can not be countered. This is exactly what you want in Caverns for reasons mentioned before. But it is not a necessity to run cards that can not be countered. It is only important in the case of Decay, because you REALLY need to know for sure that you will nail down that Oath of Druids or Crucible of Worlds. Think about a card like Stony Silence. We talk about generating value with cards like Eternal Witness and Sin Collector. Or Dark Confidant and Stoneforge Mystic. But Stony Silence also generates card advantage but in a reverse way. You don't receive new cards, but you make sure you hit more than 2 cards your opponent is trying to use. Chalice of the Void also does this. I am not sure why we aren't exploring the Chalice option, it has a natural home in the deck, especially on the play. How is Tinker ever resolving if you open up with Thalia and Chalice. They would need to play a Sol Ring or a Sensei Top and by the time they do, you probably can muster up enough clock to make it not matter anymore.

Chalice is not only a hoser for cards that have mana cost. It can easily be set at  . With a staple of Stoneforge Mystic with Batterskull and Jitte, you could just play cards like Snuff Out or Dismember in your arsenal to neutralize Workshop creatures. This way, you don't give anbody life or lands with Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile, and still play around spheres. You pay life, but if everything goes according to plan, you will gain back that life. This approach would make Noble Hierarch the only card with a cmc of   that would be affected by Chalice@1.

Cavern of Souls however, if you draw it and it doesn't get wasted, can potentially work well with Chalice of the Void. It opens up the avenue, a bit more riskier agreed, for a chalice@2 (and chalice@1 to get in Noble yes..). The most important argument here is that you can run 3 Chalice of the Void and always be able to make use of it. It can play the role of mana denial, it can be a control card, it can create asymmetric board situations favoring you. This is what I mean with 'it has to do with Decay' right in the beginning of this peace of text. In short, it can generate a lot of card advantage and tempo.

Don't let my question: 'So why not Chalice?' discourage you guys from giving comments about the other idea's floating around. We can discuss them all ^_^.

[Guli]

My question is: if you think my Knight version is so solid then why don't you or Brian play that version? Clearly you don't really feel Knight cuts it.

I think Knight cuts it, pretty damn sure it does. But I also think it is good that we all try our own set of idea's reaching to different conclusions and offering each our own insights.

After I did some puzzling, right now, my list does have Knights. I will try to report back here with some concrete testing results. Just letting you know that I never thought Knight is a bad idea, in the right list, it is a powerhouse. My main motive to run Knight is to generate mana and find Maze of Ith. There are some very specific reasons for this.

[serracollector]

Why has no one been trying champion of lambolt in humans? Even with one other creature cast after and an exalted creature all of your guys are unblockable in vintage san goyf, lodestone, and blight. I been testing him as a 3-4 of in my list and its sped the clock up amamazingly. My list atm for reference:

4 thalia
4 bob
4 mayor
4 noble
4 shardless agent
4 champ of lambs

3 abrupt decay
3 swords to plow
1 acall
1 time walk
3 stony silence

Moxen and lands

[StanleyAugust]

Unless you have some very specific metagame related reasons, I think that any list without 3 Grafdigger's Cage main is simply suboptimal.

I mean, in one card you stop the two arch enemies of Fish and Beats variants: Oath and Tinker. On top of that you stop Yawgmoth's Will, Snapcaster Mage and severely slows Dredge down, giving you a game one against them which is huge, and additionally it stops some of the occasional Welder shenanigans.

[MrGlantz]

Hey guys, new Vintage and humans player here. I was at the Lancaster event yesterday. It was great meeting up with Brian and talking strategy and theory with humans. It was a lot of fun and very generous when helping me out by giving me some extra things of his.

My list is currently very similar to Brian's and although I was late and couldn't participate in the main event, I went to the side event and did pretty well until getting crushed by the mirror. I don't know how popular the mirror match is in actuality, but its awful and not something I was expecting or had prepared for. The most backbreaking card was that my opponent was playing Huntmaster of the Fells, which wrecked me. Getting pumped by mayor on both sides as well as the advantage he helps generate is strong, although he is probably only strong against other aggro decks.

Anyway as a new vintage player I found humans to be fun and competitive, I'm excited to keep working on my list and improving my game.

[Guli]

Hey guys, new Vintage and humans player here. I was at the Lancaster event yesterday. It was great meeting up with Brian and talking strategy and theory with humans. It was a lot of fun and very generous when helping me out by giving me some extra things of his.

My list is currently very similar to Brian's and although I was late and couldn't participate in the main event, I went to the side event and did pretty well until getting crushed by the mirror. I don't know how popular the mirror match is in actuality, but its awful and not something I was expecting or had prepared for. The most backbreaking card was that my opponent was playing Huntmaster of the Fells, which wrecked me. Getting pumped by mayor on both sides as well as the advantage he helps generate is strong, although he is probably only strong against other aggro decks.

Anyway as a new vintage player I found humans to be fun and competitive, I'm excited to keep working on my list and improving my game.

Very nice to hear you picked up this very fun Human deck. It is indeed competitive. Don't worry about the mirror that much, Brian and me play it all the time, and we crush each other time to time. It happens. Especially with openers like double bob, or bob Thalia with black lotus. That is one of the strengths of Caverns, it can get in threats very fast and then keep staying ahead and there is little you can do about it.

I heard the legendary creature Brian made another appearance and got another top 8 out of it. That is 4 in a row now. I am sure he will do another mini report, we all enjoy them.

[brianpk80]

Thanks Dan, it was nice meeting you too.  Good luck on your Mayor build. 

I heard the legendary creature Brian made another appearance and got another top 8 out of it. That is 4 in a row now. I am sure he will do another mini report, we all enjoy them.

That is very kind.  I will see if I can write one up sometime soon, though it's a busy week. 

Unless you have some very specific metagame related reasons, I think that any list without 3 Grafdigger's Cage main is simply suboptimal.

I mean, in one card you stop the two arch enemies of Fish and Beats variants: Oath and Tinker. On top of that you stop Yawgmoth's Will, Snapcaster Mage and severely slows Dredge down, giving you a game one against them which is huge, and additionally it stops some of the occasional Welder shenanigans.

I don't like maindeck Cage for Pennsylvania.  Despite being one of the most broken spells, Tinker is a fringe concern here.  The prominent control decks are Bomberman and Landstill who just giggle at it and the former even runs a Cage of its own main.  It has a bit of use v. Workshop if they run Forgemaster but is otherwise dead.  Cage is one of those cards that either gets Misstepped or just sits there and after it's destroyed/bounced, the opponent does whatever it was they wanted to do in the first place or they just proceed with the other win condition.  "Grafdigger's Cage?  I guess I'll Vampiric for Tezzeret instead."  If it were a 1/1 Human, I'd be more inclined to play multiples maindeck.  The second one is such a dead draw and dead draws lose games.  I prefer Ethersworn Canonist which shuts off Snapcaster/Will shenanigans, neutralizes Storm combo, can attack, and be played uncounterably from a Cavern.  For Tinker, spot removal, sideboard cards, and Fiend Hunter have been fine, notwithstanding one stunning episode from Saturday involving a blue control player running Phyrexian Metamorph surprisingly and cloning my Fiend Hunter to bring back his Myr Battlesphere with an additional 4 tokens.  Unforgettable.           

[StanleyAugust]

Thanks Dan, it was nice meeting you too.  Good luck on your Mayor build. 

I heard the legendary creature Brian made another appearance and got another top 8 out of it. That is 4 in a row now. I am sure he will do another mini report, we all enjoy them.

That is very kind.  I will see if I can write one up sometime soon, though it's a busy week. 

Unless you have some very specific metagame related reasons, I think that any list without 3 Grafdigger's Cage main is simply suboptimal.

I mean, in one card you stop the two arch enemies of Fish and Beats variants: Oath and Tinker. On top of that you stop Yawgmoth's Will, Snapcaster Mage and severely slows Dredge down, giving you a game one against them which is huge, and additionally it stops some of the occasional Welder shenanigans.

I don't like maindeck Cage for Pennsylvania.  Despite being one of the most broken spells, Tinker is a fringe concern here.  The prominent control decks are Bomberman and Landstill who just giggle at it and the former even runs a Cage of its own main.  It has a bit of use v. Workshop if they run Forgemaster but is otherwise dead.  Cage is one of those cards that either gets Misstepped or just sits there and after it's destroyed/bounced, the opponent does whatever it was they wanted to do in the first place or they just proceed with the other win condition.  "Grafdigger's Cage?  I guess I'll Vampiric for Tezzeret instead."  If it were a 1/1 Human, I'd be more inclined to play multiples maindeck.  The second one is such a dead draw and dead draws lose games.  I prefer Ethersworn Canonist which shuts off Snapcaster/Will shenanigans, neutralizes Storm combo, can attack, and be played uncounterably from a Cavern.  For Tinker, spot removal, sideboard cards, and Fiend Hunter have been fine, notwithstanding one stunning episode from Saturday involving a blue control player running Phyrexian Metamorph surprisingly and cloning my Fiend Hunter to bring back his Myr Battlesphere with an additional 4 tokens.  Unforgettable.           

You make some very good points, and as I said, if you have some specific metagame reasons, not running Cage can of course be fine, and it seems you do. I would probably lose somewhere around 50% of my games to Oath, Tinker, Will and the card advantage of Snapcaster if I didn't play Grafdigger's Cage which is why I think it's mandatory.