On November 20th at AZMagicPlayers.com Duel for Duals I decided to play RUG Tempo. It wasn’t my first choice to play this. Over the last few weeks, I had been messing around with a few different Snapcaster-oriented decks, such as U/B control with Tombstalker and even a few BUG Control decks since Tarmogoyf really seems to help with random aggro match-ups, yet none of them really felt like the deck I wanted to be on. I had even considered the idea of not playing at all, since I felt it was too late to get any serious testing in for the tournament. My buddy Mat who also placed playing G/W Maverick talked me into playing a RUG Tempo list since it seem to be the best deck in the format and I guess if you can’t play a deck to the best of its ability you might as well play a deck that’s really good and seems to be winning everything right now. The list I looked at for RUG were pretty much all the same with a few minor differences such as choosing Snapcaster Mage over Nimble Mongoose or even Grim Lavamancer when you look at some of the European lists. All of which seemed strong so I just decided to start out with the list that’s won the last two StarCityGames events.
Jonathan Job
| Creature (12) 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Snapcaster Mage 4 Tarmogoyf Spells (30) 4 Brainstorm 3 Daze 2 Dismember 4 Force of Will 1 Life from the Loam 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Ponder 3 Spell Snare 4 Stifle 1 Temporal Spring Land (18) 3 Misty Rainforest 3 Scalding Tarn 4 Tropical Island 4 Volcanic Island 4 Wasteland | Sideboard (15) 3 Krosan Grip 2 Pyroblast 1 Red Elemental Blast 3 Spell Pierce 2 Submerge 3 Surgical Extraction 1 Sylvan Library |
I began testing what little I could and found it easy to adapt too and started to take mental notes on cards I found strong and others I found weak within the deck. It’s no surprise to anyone that’s played with or against the deck which cards are strong in the deck. However some of the cards were not as strong as I wanted them to be or even to situational to really shine. So I began to brainstorm what changes to make to the deck for the tournament.
With the expectations of RUG being the big deck at the even I began to make changes to the list. My first cut to the list was the fourth Snapcaster. While he is really good in the list I found him to many times sitting in my hand in the early to mid game with little to do with him short of pitching it to a Force of Will. I decided to fill that spot with a single Grim Lavamancer since he helps with removal and can help win Tarmogoyf wars as well as reach for the last few points of damage to finish a close game. I also wanted to find room for one more in the side as it seemed strong in the mirror matches too.
Next I decided to cut both Life from the Loam and Temporal Spring. Both cards seemed too slow and the deck really feels like it wants to just keep bringing pressure. I moved the Loam to the side so I still had access to it if I felt I needed it in match ups and moved the Sylvan Library to the main since it seemed to help with the decks draws in the mid and late game. Temporal spring was the only card I cut completely as it just seemed bad. I kicked around a few ideas for the deck to run in its spot, such as Fire/ Ice, Gut Shot, or even bringing back the fourth Snapcaster. None of which seemed to be what I was looking for. I wanted something that was useful in every match and had really strong utility, but also something that could help break the mirror match on game one.
Again, my buddy Mat suggested trying a single Surgical Extraction, and man was it ever the right call for the spot. I used it all day long to win two mirror matched once in Round 3 to take my opponent off green after a waste on a Tropical Island and again in Top 8 to remove my opponents Force of Wills, while Dazing the Surgical, paying for my Daze with the floating mana to save my Tropical Island from a Wasteland, which I needed to keep my green source around with double Tarmogoyf in hand and no other way of getting green on the board any time soon. Surgical Extraction really seemed like the MVP of the day for me. That being said here is the list I ran.
| Creatures (12) 4 Delver of Secrets 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Snapcaster Mage 1 Grim Lavamancer Spells (30) 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Force of Will 4 Stifle 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Spell Snare 2 Dismember 3 Daze 1 Sylvan Library 1 Surgical Extraction Lands (18) 3 Misty Rainforest 3 Scalding Tarn 4 Volcanic Island 4 Tropical Island 4 Wasteland | Sideboard (15) 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Life from the Loam 3 Spell Pierce 2 Submerge 1 Red Elemental Blast 2 Pyroblast 1 Grim Lavamancer 3 Krosan Grip |
Moving forward from here I still feel the deck needs some changes made to it. First off is the mana base. One thing that everyone playing RUG was asking each other was the incorporation of basic lands in to the deck. I feel like it’s a strong idea to find some room for some and I’d start out with cutting a Tropical Island for a Island and making room for a Forest in the side so that deck that try to Choke, Back to Basics, or even Blood Moon the deck don’t shut us out of the game completely.