Adam Haggerty's UW Approach Switch
 
Type: Deck Idea
Format (invalid) pioPioneer
Approx. Value:
$247.44

0 Likes 0 Comments
Avg. CMC 3.43
Card Color Breakdown
Card Type Breakdown

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Main Deck - 60 cards, 24 distinct
Columns
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (8)
3 Fae of Wishes // Granted
$0.08 Creature - Faerie Wizard // Sorcery - Adventure //
4 Merfolk Secretkeeper // Venture Deeper
$0.06 Creature - Merfolk Wizard // Sorcery - Adventure //
1 Thryx, the Sudden Storm
$0.20 Legendary Creature - Elemental Giant
Instant (19)
4 Azorius Charm
$0.42 Instant
4 Censor
$0.17 Instant
3 Dig Through Time
$0.61 Instant
2 Disallow
$3.28 Instant
4 Opt
$0.08 Instant
2 Settle the Wreckage
$3.95 Instant
Sorcery (3)
2 Approach of the Second Sun
$2.14 Sorcery
1 Supreme Verdict
$1.94 Sorcery
Enchantment (4)
2 Cast Out
$0.06 Enchantment
2 Search for Azcanta // Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin
$3.16 Legendary Enchantment // Legendary Land
Planeswalker (1)
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
$6.89 Legendary Planeswalker - Teferi
Land (25)
1 Blast Zone
$0.33 Land
1 Castle Vantress
$1.20 Land
1 Fabled Passage
$5.51 Land
2 Field of Ruin
$0.18 Land
4 Glacial Fortress
$1.20 Land
4 Hallowed Fountain
$7.97 Land - Plains Island
4 Irrigated Farmland
$0.18 Land - Plains Island
5 Island
$0.09 Basic Land - Island
1 Labyrinth of Skophos
$0.20 Land
2 Plains
$0.09 Basic Land - Plains
Sideboard - 61 cards, 53 distinct
Name  Edition $ Type Cost
Rarity Color
Creature (9)
1 Angel of Grace
$0.59 Creature - Angel
1 Baneslayer Angel
$2.41 Creature - Angel
1 Dream Trawler
$0.21 Creature - Sphinx
1 Lyra Dawnbringer
$3.72 Legendary Creature - Angel
3 Nyx-Fleece Ram
$0.34 Enchantment Creature - Sheep
1 Sparkhunter Masticore
$0.12 Artifact Creature - Masticore
1 Speaker of the Heavens
$0.56 Creature - Human Cleric
Instant (20)
1 Absorb
$0.38 Instant
1 Commit // Memory
$0.36 Instant // Sorcery //
1 Cyclonic Rift
$30.79 Instant
2 Disdainful Stroke
$0.05 Instant
2 Dovin's Veto
$3.82 Instant
1 Flashfreeze
$0.12 Instant
1 Frantic Inventory
$0.04 Instant
1 Into the Roil
$0.09 Instant
1 Miscast
$1.92 Instant
2 Mystical Dispute
$0.27 Instant
2 Neutralize
$0.06 Instant
1 Rewind
$0.26 Instant
1 Silundi Vision // Silundi Isle
$0.24 Instant // Land
1 Spell Swindle
$1.65 Instant
1 Sublime Epiphany
$3.13 Instant
1 Unwind
$0.69 Instant
Sorcery (7)
1 Approach of the Second Sun
$2.14 Sorcery
1 Boon of the Wish-Giver
$0.10 Sorcery
1 Emeria's Call // Emeria, Shattered Skyclave
$4.83 Sorcery // Land
1 Inscription of Insight
$0.11 Sorcery
1 Ondu Inversion // Ondu Skyruins
$0.41 Sorcery // Land
1 Sea Gate Restoration // Sea Gate, Reborn
$27.27 Sorcery // Land
1 Supreme Verdict
$1.94 Sorcery
Artifact (4)
1 Damping Sphere
$0.85 Artifact
1 Mazemind Tome
$0.17 Artifact
1 Raugrin Crystal
$0.05 Artifact
1 Soul-Guide Lantern
$0.11 Artifact
Enchantment (10)
1 Ashiok's Erasure
$0.10 Enchantment
1 Confounding Conundrum
$0.10 Enchantment
1 Deafening Silence
$1.52 Enchantment
2 Detention Sphere
$0.60 Enchantment
1 Elspeth Conquers Death
$0.48 Enchantment - Saga
1 Gideon's Intervention
$0.22 Enchantment
1 Rest in Peace
$1.52 Enchantment
1 Runed Halo
$0.33 Enchantment
1 Shark Typhoon
$4.11 Enchantment
Planeswalker (7)
1 Chandra, Awakened Inferno
$2.58 Legendary Planeswalker - Chandra
1 Gideon of the Trials
$2.14 Legendary Planeswalker - Gideon
2 Huatli, the Sun's Heart
$0.21 Legendary Planeswalker - Huatli
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
$0.93 Legendary Planeswalker - Narset
1 Teferi, Master of Time
$6.71 Legendary Planeswalker - Teferi
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
$28.54 Legendary Planeswalker - Ugin
Land (4)
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
$1.34 Legendary Land
1 Radiant Fountain
$0.15 Land
1 Raugrin Triome
$15.35 Land - Island Mountain Plains
1 Temple of Epiphany
$0.19 Land

Notes
 
I finally saw a control package I liked. Makes a grueling lock with a narset in play, very low deckbuilding cost and doing things these decks are playing already. Other control decks look abysmal, but this package actually makes good use of charm and commit with field of ruin, and offers a true late game inevitabilty (teferi, narset, geir is a true lock).

Narset, parter of the veil
geir reach sanitarium
field of ruin
azorius charm
committ // memory

I also had an idea inspired by having secretkeeper in the main. What if I sideboarded into nyx-fleece ram and fae of wishes with Huatli, the sun's heart? That's a pretty strong clock, especially post removal! Secretkeeper is turboing out dig and search. The ram and huatli give some great lifegain against aggro. Not only does Fae fly, but it turns my deck into a wish board (everything else is noncreature), can be cast off teferi, and means I can trade approach's for fae. Seems like a really good sideboard juke. Seems particularly good at juking opponents who bring in unmoored ego's and gideon to beat my approach. I also wonder about playing fae of wishes main. It's already a great anti-aggro card and I could wish for specific answers and the appropriate endgame. For example, In a longer more inevitable game, I could wish for approach out the side. If I happen to amass a few secretkeepers and fae, (which if I play 7 total is not unlikely some amount of the time), I can wish for Huatli and turn the corner. Whichever way I go, I can go the opposite in the next game and basically invalidate their sideboard strategy. Fae let's me morph back slowly if appropriate. Granted into Huatli also cost 7 interestingly enough. Could be a difficult deck to beat, being able to play solid control and midrange aggro that can morph at any time. Azorious charm, settle, cast out, and disallow can all be used as offensive tools interestingly enough. I think I would want some amount of tutorable wishboard targets that are high impact and at least 1 card that can take over a game from a differnet angle (I'm thinking Ugin). With a transformational sideboard and a wish board the deck is a little cramped, and the cards need to be very versatile to compensate for the lack of traditional customization options. There is also a pull to play leyline of sanctity to beat discard and burn/ballista, which further stretches the board. Even so, I still need enough hard counters out the side to take on the top end control role.

I let Jordan debut the deck and it seemed sweet and was well received! A couple notes:
Supreme will was not needed, and the illumination were not really missed.
Huatli as a wish Target is excellent and over performed. I might just have the one wish target and another ram to the side. Azorius charm lifelink on an active huatlir tram is nuts, and having settle back when you Go to race is so rewarding. 
Having a wish board was better than I thought. You are siding in counters or Rams mostly, leaving the others as wish targets. Don't forget tothink through granted/sideboard man combos in your head. Granted literally turns into any hate, win con, or answer you need.
Milling yourself with secretkeeper early enables your busted draws.  Also after you cast the first approach.
In a similar vain you are cycling aggressively to fill your graveyard and churn through your deck. Your more combo than true control.
It's all about draining your opponents mental ability to pick a correct line. Having to think through censor, labryinth, cast out, azorius charm, settle, supreme verdict, and blockers should make people play wierd. While they do this we set up the win. For example, a secretkeeper means they have to commit two creatures to attacking to get through witch you can charm, cast out, or labryinth. If they commit more, a settle can devastate them.

Getting into COVID here, as I'm about a month out from considering how to put this list together and running it on MTGO, it has lasted well. As predicted the pieces I wanted to not get banned haven't from the inverter days, and some decks have explored what the innocous high toughness creatures have to offer against aggro. Gideon's Intervention is still a hell of a beater against these combo decks, and as such I think I'm feeling pretty good about Lotus and Thassa decks. Although Lotus is no longer weak to graveyard hate, they are entirely dependent on Fae of Wishes and hardly protect it, so that can be exploited without resorting to damping sphere. I can also pretty handily beat up on oops all spells, leyline of sanctity is pretty good right now, but so is heavy enchantment hate. I'm within in rage to tune against the popular aggro strategies, Boros Wizards offers a true aggro deck now. Walking into searing blood and roiling vortex is not going to be good. I still need to layout my control matchups well, as they are a bit troublesome and are certainly prepared for me. I want to get my control matchups to, "Make them have it. Doomed if you do, Doomed if you don't tension". Like attacking with creatures, a similar exhaustive gambit for the control player with ample opportunity to make bad decisions, or for me to pivot as they choose an angle to attack. The midrange nonsense creature decks that this deck was especially good against are down, but I've picked up against combo I think, and need to adjust accordingly. Omnath/Teferi decks are a problem, and that matchup bears special consideration I think. If I can shut them out of Omnath that will be good enough, but that will difficult to accomplish. Runed Halo can do a lot of work here, but Teferi remains a little bitch about it. Perhaps Elspeth Who Conquers death is a great counterplay to this strategy on all angles. Considering I freewheeled this list, it's not a bad position to be in. Major engines and overhauls in core spells also needs to be considered, we had a ton of options given to us, and more if we explore those themes. Flashing in sorceries and Thryx got an uptick with the spell lands. I think I could also build a version that plays 4 confounding conundrum main as a means to stifling Uros/Omnath decks, wild rec decks that ramp, and Lotus field decks. I would include mystic sanctuary to be abused by fabled passage. The downside to this approach is having a weaker aggro matchup, but if the meta was skewed in that direction having an appropriate sideboard plan to be heavier against anti aggro would be a fine option.

How should I understand this deck relative to other decks? I think I would label it proactive control. A more midrange switch based leaning control deck. This occupied the same space as inverter but slower. Now it occupies the space of Wild rec and Omnath decks. Those are are skewed towards power and efficency, threatening to take over the game with each individual card, having just a few key pieces of interaction. They are narrower in their focus in a way by classification, so in theory easier to conceptually pick apart, if it wasn't for how nimble their cards behave. Any given card catches them up on most heuristics, so you answer all of it or none of it for the most part. My pieces are more incremental and require congrunence to shine, definitely a step below in power. For this deck to be competively viable, it needs to exploit where it is different from these others and dramatically increase the tension described previously for any given deck. This decks potential lies in it's versatility of lines, and this will be competitive based off our ability to pivot quickly and reliably. Some hard questions:

Is Lotus field the better Fae of Wishes deck? If not, what set's us apart.

My first thought is we use them differently. Their fae of wishes is a part of their combo, without it they don't combo off. If they are resolving it, they are winning. There are a few pieces of interaction they can get to improve a matchup, but if going this route they are somewhat behind. A key piece of my deck I think is baseline baby teferi, I need to embrace that. It's natural synergies with Fae definitely makes my copies more versatile and dynamic. If I can cast it at instant speed, or bounce it to reuse it with adavantage, that some serious value. Treat my teferi's as card flow plus is appropriate and I probably need to go up to 4 copies for this reason.

What does Approach do that Omnath is not running circles around? Or Thassa's Oracle for that matter?

Honestly approach is anemic in comparison to either of these two individually. As an individual threat, Omnath comes down earlier, has immediate impact, and can't take over the game. Every copy must be answered, the card is just raw power. In the decks that run it, Thassa's oracle is a straight I win button that is easier and earlier to cast. Perhaps where Approach is different is how little it asks of the deck it is in and the implications of that. It only asks that you be able to cast it twice, and each deck can parse out how they want to do that. The minimum is a single copy in your 75. There are many more intrinsic hoops for thassa's oracle for sure to be viable. Omnath seems like it requires little, but it's constraint on your deck is extreme. Omnath only becomes ultra powerful if you are regularly able to put multiple lands into play and use the mana you get off of it proactively. These might not seem like hoops, but they actually constrict your decisions a good deal. Proactive threats put us in the fires of invention bracket of planeswalkers and the such, so you are weak to counterspells and permanent based removal. Multiple land drops incentives the best land ramp spells, and like legacy you have a hard saying no to multiple playsets, essentially reducing your deck down to ramp and win cons, with just a smidgeon of room for anything else. Omnath also being a creature is more vulnerable than approach. The Omnath decks do everything, but they are all in on their process, and if that is disrupted they will have a hard time adjusting in the game because they can't make their cards act that much differently. So the way that approach can out perform these others is the flexibility of the shell it can be in. If I can dial in on a better shell for the meta, I can outperform these decks in any given tournament. So what it offers where the others don't is a chance to leverage my metagaming ability, which is one of my better skills. This deck without being tuned for the meta is an unfocused camera. The picture may or may not be good, but if you dial it in it should be excellent each time. Also, Baby Teferi and Thryx help to make the card more adaptable and stronger.

Why would casting Emeria's call off the back of Teferi be better than Shark typhoon off the back of Wilderness reclamation?

The straight up answer is that it isn't. Shark Typhoon is a better card hands down, and wild rec cantriping instant speed 8/8 flyers on turn 4 is a hell of an effect. The sultai rec list certainly gives me a run for my money, and is certainly better than my current version. The simple advantage is that I can roll this effect into my manabase, which is pretty huge. Recognizing the simic base for this deck likely outperforms my cantrip/self mill package some is just necessary. So Gerry T, originator of this list, I will build my Bant version off yours, as a uro/growth spiral/arboreal grazer list needs to be developed, and this is an easy framework to adapt my list to. If I am successful, I will have killed aggro by playing Uro and beaten this version by playing Teferi, and have truer inevitability because of approach. If I build it and it doesn't beat this version, well, you know the saying:/

The novel big butt/Huatli package into Soul-scar mage/Searing Blood/Roiling vortex, how does our package still shine through how these cards line up?

Not going to lie, this is a rough one. Boros Wizards embarrasses our switch anti aggro plan in a lot of ways. Making searing blood live (a clear switch for wild slash) is a big downside likely to lead to a lot of losses all on it's own. Soul-scar mage means my bigg butts diminish over time, not being the unexpected brick wall I intend them to be. G1 I have to prioritize killing these mages, G2 even more so with searing blood. And let's be honest, I need to answer every copy of roiling vortex, because at my heart Lifegain is how I am winning these matches. The good news is Leyline of Sanctity can do A LOT of heavy lifting (it even makes pyromancers hurt themselves), and if I can shift into locking up combat I should be able to improve the matchup. Something like aetherspouts would be busted, and i'm already playing settle and supreme verdict. Are they better than not playing them? I believe yes. Although there general post board plan lines up well, it still has to line up. Each of my individual pieces do not have to line up well as each are effective, and if I can keep them off their vortex/soul scar-mage's, my plan should lock up the game.
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