5c Stax @ GPAC - A journey from the bottom to the top!

[Changster]

A long time ago in a metagame far, far away... I played 5c Stax and it was glorious!

You might think I'm crazy and the deck is far-fetched, but to me this deck is the epitome of fun in Vintage.  It's a direct result of my experiences in the last two years since coming back to play Vintage Magic.  People have their pet decks and this IS my pet deck.  I would like to share with you a few of these card choices and then what ensued during Sunday's event in Atlantic City.

2015 5c Stax

Maindeck:
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Ratchet Bomb
3 Sphere of Resistance
1 Trinisphere
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Tangle Wire
4 Smokestack
1 Karn, Silver Golem
1 Duplicant
1 Triskelion
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sundering Titan
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
2 Dack Fayden
1 Crop Rotation
4 Goblin Welder
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Strip Mine
1 Tolarian Academy
3 Gemstone Mine
4 Mana Confluence
4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Balance
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Homeward Path
1 Pithing Needle
3 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
2 Tormod's Crypt

1.) Ratchet Bomb - This shrinks the board back down to a manageable size to help magnify Smokestack's effect and opens up pesky Chalices on 0 or 1, locking you out.
2.) Threat Package (Karn, Dupe, Trike, Wurm, Titan) - The package is not permanent, but does a good enough job securing board position and mostly has an immediate impact once in play.  Wurmcoil Engine is a necessary evil to help the deck stabilize from too much loss of life.
3.) 4-Sphere Package - With only 4 sphere-effects in the deck, it's definitely light on disruption.  Reason being, it allows for the rest of the deck to function while establishing soft and incremental locks.
4.) Dack Fayden - Combine this with a Welder in play and it shines.  It is an excellent addition that allows for the deck to push through late game stall outs.
5.) Crop Rotation - This was originally Chromatic Lantern, but I audibled and wanted an extra way to access Strip Mine or a Tabernacle.
6.) Goblin Welder - Just 1 weld can make all the difference.
7.) Ancient Grudge - One in the main allows for some quick response to opponents hinting at a Vault/Key plan.  It also opens up the door against Null Rod/Chalices pinning you down.
8.) Cavern of Souls - This was just a cute addition to help resolve my Welders or one of the five bots.  Welder gets through Chalice at 1 here as well.
9.) Chalice of the Void - These are in the sideboard.  It's a personal preference and I just enjoy knowing that these are ready for me to unleash on opponents when I know for sure that I'm on the play (games 2 or 3).  That's where they seem to do the most damage.
10.) Homeward Path - *Forino Tech Alert* - Stolen bots via Dack, come back!

Sunday's GPAC Vintage Plus Event


Round 1 - Oath
I took g1 down with a Tinker to 3-sphere, followed by a Smokestack.  Games 2 and 3, I proceed to lose to Vault/Key combo, courtesy of a Griselbrand.
Record: 0-1

Round 2 - BYE
I spent this round counting up the number of Oath players in the room (6 to be exact) and proceed to watch folks have fun playing sanctioned Vintage.
Record: 1-1

Round 3 - Oath
Hoping to redeem myself and have a good match, I get 2-0'd by another Oath player.  I'm convinced the hands I kept were simply suboptimal for combating Oath and I should have mulliganed more aggressively to search for something better.  After the miserable 1-2 start, I had just about given up and seriously contemplated dropping.  Obviously, I decided against it, in hopes that I would play against something other than Oath.
Record: 1-2

Round 4 - Landstill
I got paired up with my old friend, JR.  He had a 2-1 record and I had a 1-2 record.  We played it out because I wanted to compete and see what crazy shenanigans I could pull out against his control deck.  In one of our games, I managed to land a Trinisphere after he landed a Crucible.  The following turn, he tapped out his mana to cast a Standstill.  On my turn, I break the Standstill, resolving a Trinisphere-protected Dack Fayden to steal the Crucible and then proceeded to control the game from there.  It was a 2-0 victory and I immediately find out from JD Nir that because of my win, I opened up the door for two X-2's to make the cut to top 8. 
Record: 2-2

Round 5 - Merfolk
This round did not really count since my opponent was clearly new to Vintage and he made it that far without power in his deck.  His inexperience showed with some play decisions that allowed for me to win game 1, even after a mull to 4.  My g1 hand was Mana Crypt, Mana Confluence, Tinker, and Tangle Wire.  I knew he was on Merfolk, so I felt the safest route was to extend the game and crush through with Wurmcoil Engine via turn 1 Tinker.  Sure enough, he had a Wasteland waiting for my remaining mana source, but 4 or 5 turns later, he ran out of chump blockers.  Game 2 included a timely Balance, which knocked out two of his cards in hand as well as his small army.  He didn't recover from the Hymn-Wrath.
Record: 3-2

Cut to Top 8 - 8th Place after 5 Rounds of Swiss

Quarterfinals vs 1st Seed and my 1st Round Opponent Kenan Diab (Oath)
I do my Tangle Wire + Smokestack thing to him and he's eventually left with nothing on board.  In game 2, I get lock components in play, but manage to keep him off just enough mana, landing a Cage, Chalice on 2, and using Tangle Wires to keep him 1 mana off from casting his Show and Tells.  I won this in a quick 2 games, somewhat redeeming myself from my losses to Oath earlier in the day.

Semifinals vs Will Dayton (Terra Nova)
FINALLY, the matchup I had been waiting for - another shops deck!  In theory, my deck was more resilient, provided it had a chance to breathe and not die too quickly.  Martello technically has that advantage over Terra Nova, but what Terra Nova gives up in a speedy kill, it makes up for with harder lock pieces.  More sphere-effects and Null Rods push many players out of maintaining any board state, denying most forms of acceleration. 

Sitting across from me was a seasoned Terra Nova player who had previously beaten me with some pretty relentless aggro-MUD plays including multiple Lodestone Golems.  However, this time, I was prepared to shock him and steal/weld out his best threats.

In game 1, Will managed to land a quick Chalice on 0 to shut out my quick acceleration, followed by sphere effects.  The sphere effects pushed my game out so much that I had to discard a Duplicant.  A few turns later, while I struggled to build a board and mana, he dropped in his Lodestone Golem to start swinging in for the kill.  With a clock and time running out, I played a Smokestack to start eating away at his board, tapping my Mana Confluence sparingly to try and delay the inevitable.  He continues to bash in, getting me down to 8, which puts me almost completely out of reach.  With a little luck, I top-decked a Goblin Welder and threw the sucker into play immediately through the Lodestone and Sphere of Resistance in play on his side.  On Will's turn, he swings in to bring me down to 2 and then passes.  On my turn, I welded in my Duplicant to remove the threat and proceed to take over the game from the brink of death.  That game was quite honestly one of the hardest-fought victories I've ever had, considering the uber-complex board state involving a Smokestack at 3 and new Wires coming in and out of play.  Game 2 was not as eventful, but once I landed Dack Fayden on turn 2 or 3, Will conceded on the spot.

Sorry, but there wasn't a Finals match played.
After a long day (and weekend), Vasu and I decided to split the crazy loot and we each walked away with 820 tickets, which equated to 82 packs of Khans.  He generously offered me the recorded win and I took it.

Looking back, I somehow managed to squeak into the top 8, edging out JD Nir by 3.33% in my tiebreakers.  The deck is clearly a work in progress, but truly an exciting list for me to play.  Its intricate lines of play require a good feel of the metagame and format, reminiscent of my 2005 list.  The new additions and card choices in the latest list have been influenced heavily by what I have felt and seen in the last two years.  Dack Fayden still remains an enemy, but is incredible as my ally in this build. 

I hope you enjoyed the read and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

-Roland

[brianpk80]

Bravo.  I think it's spectacular that you were able to fuse an aptitude for navigating the current metagame with the deck that has historically been your passion. 

[tito del monte]

Thanks for the write-up Roland! Once I saw the list, I was hoping you would pop up and talk about it - truly an awesome bit of deck building! Did you miss Chromatic Lantern in the end? Did you consider Daretti to play double loot/weld duty?

Look forward to giving this a try in the near future. Congrats!

[HelloSamwise]

Jesus Christ, Balance. Just when I thought I had seen all the surprises in that deck. (And Dack made me do a triple-take.)

[EyeOfTheStorm]

Oh sure, I give you hope for making top 8 and you pay me back by edging me out

Just kidding buddy. Awesome performance. I think you're selling yourself short in your game one against Will; you played masterfully against an opponent who gave you no room for error. I'm pretty sure I would have lost that game taking over at nearly any point. Thanks for writing this up!

[iostream]

Great performance, nice writeup, and well played!  I was thinking about our quarterfinals match for a long time afterwards.

[Royal Ass.]

Cool deck and great write-up Roland! 

[The Atog Lord]

Thank you for writing this up Roland. Congratulations. I tested some games with this deck. It is extremely fun and has a great old-school feel to it. This must be how it feels to see Marit Lage emerging from the ice after so many years.

[dragzz]

I have never been so excited to see a deck! I'm definitely trying this one out!

Awesome!

[serracollector]

Good write up and great report. Im just curious but with four welders why no thirst for knowledge? Was Dack just better?

[DaveKap]

Honored to be in an awesome Top 4 representative of innovation (Roland bringing back 5c stax / Vasu always evolving bomberman) and old standbys (Will Dayton on Terra Nova and me on Delver).

[LotusHead]

I feel guilty for not posting more on this site, but I have no team anymore, so cannot at the moment do the Vintage thing all day and all night as would be optimal. I do however, have 6 Vintage decks built within about 15 proxies.

On to my response: I love that Shop deck pilots have an almost infinite rainbow of lists to play against their own meta.

I have certainly been prone to playing Ancient Tombs to maximize MUD possibilities, but I have always enjoyed Goblin Welder antics.

I love that this list tries to push through the current meta-craze: Mentors, etc.

I do have a question... No Lodestone Golems? I know it hits 12 cards maindeck, but So Good! (ie, it's like Hymn to Tourach at worst turn 1)
maybe shave off a Tangle Wire, Smoke Stack, Crucible or Welder?

[Changster]

Thanks everyone!  I'm happy to see that most of you are confused by some of the card choices.  That only means one thing... there is work to be done.  It's scary & exciting for me to work on something new that may or may not have any success.

Re: Chromatic Lantern - it was underwhelming, but definitely helpful when stabilizing my manabase.  The Crucible of Worlds had a similar effect, so I replaced it with the Crop Rotation to aggressively seek out answers/lock pieces.

@JD - thanks for the kind words.  I've been working on cleaning up my play lately, though Mikey Noble was quick to point out that I mistakenly tried using Workshop mana to cast a planeswalker with two sphere effects on board.  Yeah, that doesn't work like that

@Kenan - good games, sir!  I was fortunate that you simply didn't have the right answers for my disruption.

@Rich - 20/20 rawr!

@serracollector - Thirst for Knowledge served the same purpose of Dack, essentially pushing 5c through when it stalls.  Dack also has synergy with other parts of the deck, stealing precious mana/combo pieces from your opponent early on or allowing for a turn 2 Titan welded in from the graveyard.

@Dave - definitely good work from Vintage regulars!

@LotusHead - We are your team =)  A good friend recently challenged me to not withhold this list and also share my experiences instead of keeping tech secret.  There are advantages to keeping tech to myself, but at the cost of the rest of the format remaining relatively stagnant.  There are no Lodestone Golems simply b/c of a personal choice not to play them.  Plus, they push out my own fun spells/bombs just out of reach.  Don't get me wrong - they are really strong, but I still think of them as a 5/3 Juggernaut, especially looking at all of the current answers available these days.

[Baradoz]

First of all, I'm not a native English speaker, therefore I apologize in advance for my limited choice of words but I'll try to express my ideas as clearly as possible.

Being a long-time MUD Shop decks, I always wanted to find a color version of the build - mostly for the welders.
This one is a very interesting list, I have been playtesting it a little bit and I have a few thoughts I'd like to share with you:

1. I hate getting mana issues in MTG (to me, losing to a mana/color death is the worse). Which is why I really enjoy playing Shop decks in Vintage, and Ramp decks in EDH.
I think the weak point in Colored stax decks in usually fixing the manabase: How to create such an efficient one that you will get enough colorless for your big machines, while still being able to cast your colored spells through all these spheres?
I understand that finding your Tabernacle might be crucial against Dredge decks, but I'd like to know how you preferered Crop Rotation to, let's say, Chromatic Lantern or Expedition Map (which I would also list in this "mana helper" utilities).

2. Ratchet Bomb is amazing against Zombie/Monastery Mentor tokens. However it does blow up your Moxen as well (how often do you sacrifice it for 0?). I usually see Smokestack as the universal solution to every possible trouble on the battlefield. Is this addition really helpful against specific matchups?
(My point here would be, or shoudn't this slot be changed to a mana-fixer as well?)

3. About the choice of the "big robots", I am living a very long love-story with Karn. I'm just wondering between this guy and Triskelion, wouldn't it be amazing to cut the Trike in order to pack a 2nd Karn MD? It seems to me they both serve the same objective (dealing damage). Even if it's true that Trike is amazing when it comes down to shoot Trygon Predators, it seems to me that Karn is a very efficient beatdown clock, able to kill multiple PWs on the spot, eating Moxen and get rid of opponent's life total within 3 turns maximum. As well as being really good at providing multiple blockers when necessary (monastery mentor, young pyromancer). The fact that he costs 5 mana seems more of a reasonable mana cost, unlike 6 which rather appears as "over the overcosted threshold" to me.

4. These lists usually run 1 or 2 Bazaars MD. I'd like to know the reasons that led you to run a Bazaarless version of the deck? I understand it's mostly thanks to Dack's looting abilities, but since Dack is a 3-mana permanent, how did you feel about this difference in utilization?

Thank you in advance, I hope my questions bring an interesting discussion on your list!

B.

edit: oh, and what about the missing Memory Jar as well? I know it's been an all-time favourite in this kind of build. Is Dack's ability strong enough to replace the Jar's broken card-advantage generation?

[Space_Stormy]

Thank you for writing this up Roland. Congratulations. I tested some games with this deck. It is extremely fun and has a great old-school feel to it. This must be how it feels to see Marit Lage emerging from the ice after so many years.

My new favorite term for old decks seeing new life.

[Changster]

First of all, I'm not a native English speaker, therefore I apologize in advance for my limited choice of words but I'll try to express my ideas as clearly as possible.

Being a long-time MUD Shop decks, I always wanted to find a color version of the build - mostly for the welders.
This one is a very interesting list, I have been playtesting it a little bit and I have a few thoughts I'd like to share with you:

1. I hate getting mana issues in MTG (to me, losing to a mana/color death is the worse). Which is why I really enjoy playing Shop decks in Vintage, and Ramp decks in EDH.
I think the weak point in Colored stax decks in usually fixing the manabase: How to create such an efficient one that you will get enough colorless for your big machines, while still being able to cast your colored spells through all these spheres?
I understand that finding your Tabernacle might be crucial against Dredge decks, but I'd like to know how you preferered Crop Rotation to, let's say, Chromatic Lantern or Expedition Map (which I would also list in this "mana helper" utilities).

2. Ratchet Bomb is amazing against Zombie/Monastery Mentor tokens. However it does blow up your Moxen as well (how often do you sacrifice it for 0?). I usually see Smokestack as the universal solution to every possible trouble on the battlefield. Is this addition really helpful against specific matchups?
(My point here would be, or shoudn't this slot be changed to a mana-fixer as well?)

3. About the choice of the "big robots", I am living a very long love-story with Karn. I'm just wondering between this guy and Triskelion, wouldn't it be amazing to cut the Trike in order to pack a 2nd Karn MD? It seems to me they both serve the same objective (dealing damage). Even if it's true that Trike is amazing when it comes down to shoot Trygon Predators, it seems to me that Karn is a very efficient beatdown clock, able to kill multiple PWs on the spot, eating Moxen and get rid of opponent's life total within 3 turns maximum. As well as being really good at providing multiple blockers when necessary (monastery mentor, young pyromancer). The fact that he costs 5 mana seems more of a reasonable mana cost, unlike 6 which rather appears as "over the overcosted threshold" to me.

4. These lists usually run 1 or 2 Bazaars MD. I'd like to know the reasons that led you to run a Bazaarless version of the deck? I understand it's mostly thanks to Dack's looting abilities, but since Dack is a 3-mana permanent, how did you feel about this difference in utilization?

Thank you in advance, I hope my questions bring an interesting discussion on your list!

B.

edit: oh, and what about the missing Memory Jar as well? I know it's been an all-time favourite in this kind of build. Is Dack's ability strong enough to replace the Jar's broken card-advantage generation?

@Baradoz - great questions and I'm glad you asked!

1.) Those are valid concerns regarding the seemingly fragile mana base.  The way the deck combats that disruption is through the stability of Crucible of Worlds.  As risky as Crop Rotation may be with so many Mental Missteps around, it's worth the risk to potentially put the game away if they don't have the answer.  Crop Rotation is faster and overall more powerful than Chromatic Lantern or Expedition Map.  I tested those two cards and they proved underwhelming for their cost and resource dedication.  The Chromatic Lantern offered a sense of stability that did not further the ultimate plan of establishing a hard-lock.  While the Expedition Map had a better chance of resolving without setting off opponents' alarm systems (Misstep), it required an activation cost not easily done in 1 turn (3 non-Workshop Mana).  So, I went the more aggressive route through Crop Rotation, putting more at risk to potentially earn some greater reward/return.  The way to play this card safely and correctly comes down to timing.  If you know you're against a blue deck, you just need to take more care of resolving the 1cc spell, sequencing against running it right into a Misstep.

2.) Ratchet Bomb is great and I think it works best when shrinking the opponent's board back down to size when you have an active Smokestack on board.  The key is not to just throw out your Moxen just because they can be cast for free.  Consider treating them as information about your hand.  The less resources they realize you potentially have, the less possibilities they can piece together in their mind about what you're going to play next.  So putting that theory into practice, you would be less likely to run into situations where Ratchet Bomb is destroying more of your board / Moxen than intended.

3.) Six mana is really at the top of the curve.  Past that, you're likely not going to be casting a Sundering Titan very quickly.  Though, stranger things have happened (Workshop, Lotus, Crypt, Titan).  The Big Robot choices are solely dependent on your predicted metagame.  A Big Robot setup that works in one metagame for 5c Stax won't necessarily be the right formula for the next, so it's important to understand what is at your disposal and which matchups they will be good for.  Triskelion is a recurring machine gun when combined with Goblin Welder and if proactively played, he can stave off opposing Dack Faydens quite effectively.  Also, against opposing Phyrexian Revokers, your locked-down Welders could be freed up when Trike resolves.  Thus, creating headaches for opponents running Workshop Aggro decks.

4.) This is true and at times I do miss having at least 1 Bazaar.  I won't rule it out as it was never really a terrible card.  However, my experience with it was often 50/50 and I always felt further behind when I had to desperately dig with it.  It also ate up a valuable land drop which could have been the difference between dropping more mana resources into play vs just seeing more cards off the top of my library.  It's also quite possible that I've been playing the land incorrectly all along, so I've never been able to capitalize on it.  When Thirst for Knowledge was restricted, my first impulse was to add in Imperial Seal, Darkblast, and Bazaar to help compensate for the "lack of" draw engine.  It has since been replaced by an extremely well-positioned card, Dack Fayden, which has the ability to single-handedly steal an opposing Workshop deck's momentum.  Dack then continuously helps dig further into the deck, filtering through cards more efficiently without the fear of reducing the hand count.  Bazaar always left me feeling desperate, searching through so much of my deck at the cost of staying at 1 or less cards in hand.  I typically wanted to build up to a 2-threat turn, so if one moderate threat was countered, the 2nd would have a higher chance of resolving and put the game even further out of reach of my opponent.

5.) Memory Jar is quite good, but does it accomplish a harder lock quicker?  There are a lot of resources that you must dedicate to casting it or potentially welding it back in.  I'd say it's a 50/50 for me, which is not strong enough, so I have not included it in my lists for quite a while.

I hope this helps you understand my rationale/theory behind the deck.  Like I've said before, it's my pet deck and it's clearly not the easiest deck to pilot, but with the right card choices for a particular metagame, it can have the right silver bullets to win.  Definitely an uphill battle!