Call of the Herd and Sylvan Library... so hot right now
Call of the Herd and Sylvan Library... so hot right now
PLUS: Premodern event in New Jersey (10/21), Jeff White recaps his PSS5, and Argentog website launches
Today let’s talk about my brew for the September webcam monthly… Turtle Tog! This issue will be a tournament report as I was 6-1* in my pod at one point… but with major caveats I’ll explain later. Next issue we’ll dive a bit into the results of major tournaments since the banning of Land Tax.
Deck Design
The genesis of this deck came about after a community effort in March to support the daughter of a valued member of the format. As part of that effort, I incentivized donations with various giveaways, of which two of the prizes were that I would brew and play a deck around a pet card of the winner. One such pet card, Opposition, was the highlight of my Natural Order Opposition brew that went 4-2 in May. This time the challenge, given to me by Chris B., was to build around Gamekeeper in a non-combo shell.
In Premodern, Gamekeeper is primarily seen in Turtle Splash as a way to dump your library into your graveyard while searching up Saprazzan Bailiff. You’ll sometimes see it in more uncommon decks, such as Dementia Drake or Dark Fires Bombardment, but both are still utilized in a somewhat combo manner. My goal was to utilize Gamekeeper as a value engine, filling up the graveyard with flashback cards. I hadn’t seen them before I started creating the list, but a few others have tried something in the same direction in the past, with various flavors (Gamekeeper Games, Gamekeeper Rock).
With flashback in mind, I had to try utilizing Call of the Herd, which had been discussed on the Premodern blog not too long ago. In particular, I wanted to highlight the advantages that Gamekeeper has over Oath of Druids — by playing many of my own creatures. Both cards have similar end results of cheating something into play, but Oath of Druids has certain deck building restrictions that Gamekeeper wouldn’t have (e.g., creature tokens don’t always play well with Oath of Druids). When thinking of flashback, I also thought about Flippi B.’s recent innovations that utilized Quiet Speculation.
Besides flashback and Call of the Herd, the other aspect I wanted to explore more deeply in this deck was Sylvan Library. I’ve been a huge fan of the card for a while (and own a few copies), jamming it into various decks, including False Cure and Jundlhaups. The card has seen some renewed interest following the banning of Land Tax as potential card engine replacement (also mentioned in the Premodern blog recently). One of my favorite cards (top three?) in all of Magic is Predict. I think the card really ties this deck together, being absolutely ridiculous with 1) Sylvan Library, by milling cards you don’t need and allowing an easy draw two) and 2) flashback cards, by letting you get value out of milled cards.
Sylvan Library is also huge with Abundance and Words of Wilding, letting you “draw” three cards or make three 2/2 bears. I’d played the Sylvan Library and Abundance combo before in GW Prison Oath and the Sylvan Library and Words of Wilding combo before in the aforementioned Jundlhaups so I was familiar with their power… if you were able to set it up.
Finally, I threw in a pair of Psychatogs. Psychatog was the first deck I blinged out in Japanese foil in Premodern and the deck holds a special place in my warm heart. Although Dr. Teeth may not be the trendiest win condition these days, the temptation of using him and making a BUG deck was too great. This just seemed like a great place for him and the prospect of a chain of Gamekeeper triggers from Cabal Therapies into a Psychatog was very interesting.
Here’s where I ended up, with only Portent as a non-land four-of in the main, because that’s just good deck building:
Tournament Report
Thanks to all the great players in my September pod. At one point I was 6-1, but ultimately in actual matches played I was 3-2-1. I recorded my matches but I am tragically far behind on uploads on my YouTube channel.
Match 1 vs. “Not Parfait”: Someone needs to come up with a better name here for this deck.
G1 he assembles the whole crew of Oath of Druids, Scroll Rack, Zur’s Weirding, Sterling Grove, Abundance, Sylvan Library, and Parallax Tide against my Sylvan Library and Words of Wilding. In the olden days of Land Tax, the game would have been over long ago but honestly even against this buffet of permanents I didn’t feel out of the game because I knew I could keep making land drops and wait to potentially overrun him with threats. I play it a bit too conservatively because I don’t know if he’s playing an Akroma, but he was running the Ancestor’s Chosen and Shard Phoenix package in the main. I eventually make my move, playing out two Psychatogs, creating some bears, wurms, and elephants. I swing in for the finisher but the combination of Abundance, Scroll Rack, and a final Gush find him the Sword to Plowshares he needs to stall a turn and I deck the next turn.
G2 I assemble the Sylvan Library and Abundance combo with a wurm token.
G3 I’m able to keep his board pretty clean and have a Psychatog chipping away, but without lethal yet. My opponent decides to concede, though the outcome may have not been certain.
Record: 1-0… but it turns out we weren’t even supposed to play each other!
Match 2 vs. UW Landstill: I initially felt OK about this matchup since I play Call of the Herd and Roar of the Wurm, which play well against one-for-one removal. The abundance of Sylvan Libraries also were promising in this matchup too.
G1 We make some land drops, he plays Standstill, I decide to go on the aggressive and play a Psychatog which gets immediately Swords to Plowshared. I had decided to go aggressive because my hand had Call of the Herd and Roar of the Wurm and I figured I could just grind him out with enough pressure. Unfortunately for me my opponent drops a main deck Phyrexian Furnace and my plans crumble. Instead I choose to play a slower game to make sure I can cast my Call of the Herd and flashback the same turn, getting full value, but setting me back several turns. He cycles for a mini Decree of soldiers and I send out four elephant tokens, prompting a Wrath of God. Eventually he’s able to cycle for a large Decree and I concede.
G2 I start off with a second turn Quiet Speculation for a beater, Cabal Therapy, and Deep Analysis. I cast a Call of the Herd from hand and the elephant applies some pressure as I refrain from flashing back to avoid overextending into a Wrath of God. He eventually cycles for four soldiers and triple blocks the elephant. After he’s tapped out I cast a Roar of the Wurm from hand, he removes the wurm with a Swords to Plowshares and lands a Standstill. I crack his Standstill with a Sylvan Library and attempt to land a Words of Wilding but it’s countered. He plays down another Standstill which I crack again with a Predict… which he then follows up with another Standstill! Game goes on longer… and we’re eventually at a spot where he has three Mishra’s Factories and five soldier tokens against my Sylvan Library. I eventually get to the point where I can cast Haunting Echoes or an Iridescent Angel but the first wouldn’t deck him completely as he would still have a Mishra’s Factory, three Islands, and three Adarkar Wastes in library. I play the Angel instead but it’s no match for the wide army threatening to come in.
Record: 1-1
Match 3 vs. UW Tide Control: I wasn’t sure about this matchup going in but I was hoping a few early Call of the Herds and Mox Diamond plus Sylvan Library would be enough to catch me up from my lands getting hit.
G1 I don’t have a ton of gas and my opponent grinds me out with a Mishra’s Factory and a Decree of Justice.
G2 I’m able to land a second turn Intuition for two Roar of the Wurm and a Ray of Revelation, keeping one of the Roars. He manages to exile a few of my lands with Parallax Tide but with a fetch and a Mox Diamond in play I’m able to rebuild with a Sylvan Library cast soon after. Eventually I hardcast Iridescent Angel to close the game. G3 I unfortunately have to reschedule as an at-home doctors appointment for my twins is moved earlier than I had known. My kind opponent offers to concede the match instead, but I end up recording a draw.
Record: 1-1-1
Match 4 vs. Pit-Rack: I felt relatively good about this matchup given all the flashback cards and Sylvan Libraries. I was somewhat concerned though that if I fell behind in cards in hand there wouldn’t be a good way to recoup cards since Deep Analysis and Sylvan Library both cost life.
G1 My opponent starts with a Duress, grabs my Mox Diamond to prevent a first turn Sylvan Library. I’m glad to be keeping the Library against heavy discard though. On the second turn he Dark Rituals to play a morphed creature… fun! I play my Library. His third turn he plays a Cursed Scroll and then another Dark Ritual into a Bottomless Pit. His next turn he decides to unmorph his Bane of the Living to aggro me out. His Bottomless Pit makes me discard a Call of the Herd and I make a fatal error here, choosing to flashback my Call of the Herd for three mana instead of playing my Psychatog from hand, to prevent the Bane of the Living from cracking in. The game goes on, with his Bane of the Living playing defense as I eventually assemble a Gamekeeper, elephant token, and two wurm tokens. It’s close thanks to his Cursed Scroll activations but I eventually get here.
G2 He starts with a Cabal Therapy for Gamekeeper, grabbing one from my hand. He follows up with a Powder Keg and I have a Sylvan Library. He has a Plague Spitter and I have a Predict that works wonders with Library. He eventually removes my Sylvan Library with Dystopia but I have a Psychatog out and eventually get a Gamekeeper trigger into Phantom Nishoba. He eventually casts double Innocent Blood but by now my graveyard is stacked and I finish him out with Call of the Herd.
G3 While going through my record footage, I discover my error in G1 with the flashbacked Call of the Herd for three instead of four. Although I think the game would have been the same had I cast the Psychatog instead of the Call, it was close enough that I offered to concede the game and play a G3, which my opponent accepted since he was getting reps in before the European Championship. We decide to die roll to see who goes first, and I lose the roll. He starts with a Swamp, pass, I start with a Cabal Therapy, naming Bottomless Pit. I miss and he reveals two Swamp, a Wasteland, Dystopia, Hypnotic Specter, and Withered Wretch. I kick myself a bit as Withered Wretch was the card I had been mulling choosing instead of Bottomless Pit, which probably would have made more sense given he didn’t have a Rack or a Ritual and my deck in the long-run is well-suited for discard. He plays his Withered Wretch and I follow up with a Yavimaya Coast and a Sylvan Library (lucky for me to have it again). He Wastelands the Yavimaya Coast on his turn and swings in. I just draw the one card and play an Island. He plays his Dystopia and I get no value out of my Sylvan Library. I play Psychatog and he casts out two Hypnotic Specters on his turn thanks to a Dark Ritual. I had thought about flashing back the Cabal Therapy with Psychatog to grab the Hypnotic Specter I knew about from hand, but I also had a Pernicious Deed in hand and so had wanted to wipe out his board in one fell swoop. Unfortunately one of his hidden cards was another Hypnotic Specter so he was able to grab two cards from hand (Gamekeeper and Fact or Fiction), leaving me with the one card in hand I would have been OK discarding (Words of Wilding). I clear the board but he immediately plays another Withered Wretch. I have two cards left in hand and he plays both The Rack and Bottomless Pit. I’m at 5 life to his 17 life and I flashback an elephant token and try to swing in with the other because I know I’m on a very short clock. He top decks a Snuff Out, removes the untapped elephant and I die the next turn.
Record: 1-2-1, originally a win but changed to a loss!
Match 5 vs. Enchantress: This matchup seemed somewhat difficult because I can’t necessarily close out fast enough and am entirely dependent on attacking. Sideboard has a decent amount of interaction though.
G1 I have an early Quiet Speculation and a Gamekeeper trigger that fills up my graveyard. He has his own board of Enchantress’s Presence, Exploration, Elephant Grass (keeping my Psychatog at bay), and a Sterling Grove. I assemble Sylvan Library and Words of Wilding, and make a wurm token. He stems the bleeding with Solitary Confinement with an Argothian Enchantress joining the party so he’s drawing two cards per enchantment. He runs out of cards, forcing him to sacrifice the Solitary Confinement. We realize in retrospect that perhaps using the Sterling Grove to guarantee an enchantment on top would have been better, but he was worried about Predict and enchantment hate. Enchantress is a tough deck!
G2 I have an early Quiet Speculation and Fact or Fiction, alongside Sylvan Library. My opponent has an Enchantress’s Presence out and I use a Portent on him to try and slow him down, seeing two Sterling Groves and a Seal of Cleansing, so I ask him to shuffle. Later on, we get to the point in which I have an empty board after he Seals my Library while he has an Argothian Enchantress, Enchantress’s Presence, Sterling Grove, two Elephant Grass, Exploration, and Parallax Wave out. The next turn I play a Pernicious Deed and immediately crack for three while he is tapped out. I cast Portent targeting him, revealing a Forest, Wild Growth, and Carpet of Flowers, which I am happy to let him have. I then follow up with a Haunting Echoes, wiping out most of his deck though he still has a Parallax Wave in play and the possibility of drawing Opalescence. I hardcast an Iridescent Angel, winning before he can race me with his remaining combo.
Record: 2-2-1
Match 6 vs. TideNoughtStill:
G1 I’m on the play and cast a second turn Sylvan Library but am met with a Force Spike. I follow up with Call of the Herd, which gets hit by a Powder Keg. I try to fetch the next turn and am hit with a Stifle. I try a Cabal Therapy, which is hit with a Forbid… at this point I think my opponent is on Mono Blue Control as an earlier Cabal Therapy was also countered. I try to land two Gamekeepers but both are met with counters. He follows up with a Parallax Tide, grabbing my lands while a Mishra’s Factory chips away and finishes me off.
G2 I lead off with a Cabal Therapy naming Counterspell and miss, but I see three Islands, Force Spike, Standstill, Phyrexian Dreadnought (!), and Vision Charm. Lucky for me I had boarded in a Crumble after seeing the Powder Kegs and Mishra’s Factories in G1 so I was able to Crumble when he went for the combo on his second turn. We draw-go for a while, I cast a Fact or Fiction, revealing Polluted Delta, Naturalize, Portent, Haunting Echoes, and Predict. He splits the first two into one pile and the latter three into another. I chose the pile of three. I attempt to Haunting Echoes him but he Mana Leaks. He attempts to Parallax Tide my lands but I’m able to cast Ray of Revelation to get my lands back. I cast Predict targeting my opponent, naming Island (my opponent did have a split between Snow-Covered and non). I end up flipping over a Phyrexian Dreadnought, which was exceptionally lucky since he had a Stifle in hand. I eventually get down to four life as a Faerie Conclave has been chipping away but am able to get a Gamekeeper trigger into Psychatog while my opponent is at 19. I’m able to deal 21 damage to my opponent, who only has a Stifle in hand.
G3 I get out an early Sylvan Library and Annul his first Standstill but he plays a second. I break his Standstill with a Cabal Therapy, naming Counterspell. I grab one and he has Island, Stifle, Accumulated Knowledge, Parallax Tide, and two Force Spike in hand. He attempts to tap out to Parallax Tide my lands and I have a Naturalize in hand to get my lands back. Later, he has two Mishra’s Factories in play with a hand of two Force Spike and a Phyrexian Dreadnought. I flash back Call of the Herd with two City of Brass and a Polluted Delta untapped while at 11 life. He double Force Spikes me, bringing me down to 9 from the Cities. We trade an elephant for one Factory. He has two cards in hand: one Phyrexian Dreadnought and a mystery card. I cast Phantom Nishoba, leaving one Polluted Delta untapped and going down to 7 life. I swing in, going to 14 against his 13, cast Portent on my opponent, seeing Stifle, Island, and Impulse. I give him the Island first, then the Impulse, then the Stifle. I find a Cabal Therapy, naming Phyrexian Dreadnought, grabbing both cards from his hand (one known, one mystery), leaving him empty handed. I Portent targeting him again, showing a Force Spike, Stifle, and Impulse. I have him put the Impulse on the bottom and the Nishoba finishes the job.
Record: 3-2-1
Match 7 vs. BYE: My opponent had decided to drop from the monthly, leaving my final record at 4-2-1, but one loss had originally been a win and one draw could have been a win thanks to a generous opponent.
Final Thoughts
The deck was one of the most fun I have played in a while. Portent-Predict-Sylvan Library let you see a ton of cards, and Quiet Speculation or Intuition into flashback cards can feel absurd at times. The Abundance and Words of Wilding may have been too cute unfortunately, but they may be worth it for the fun factor alone. I would love to find a way to fit in Memory Lapse since I just love Portent and Predict, but it may also be too low impact. Hopefully I’ll get around to uploading videos again soon!
Premodern Event at The Bearded Dragon in New Jersey
Our friends at The Bearded Dragon in Bernardsville, New Jersey are hosting a $1K store credit Premodern event on Saturday, October 21st! Registration is available here — and note they’re also hosting a Legacy event the next day and you can save on registration if you sign up for both. Think of it as a mini-Eternal Weekend! I’ve heard nothing but great things about this store and they’ve been supportive of Premodern in the past.
If you’re in the New York City area and are looking for a way to get there, join the NYC Premodern Discord and we can discuss transportation options.
Content
🎙 The latest Spike Colony podcast is out, featuring Brian Kowal subbing in for Mike Flores this week as he discusses with Lanny Huang about the European Championships and more.
🏆 Anton Glans has been awarded the Premodern Magic Community Award for 2022. Well deserved!
🦈 Jeff White recaps his experience on his blog on the fifth season of the Premodern Showdown Series
📜 Friendly reminder that the Japanese Middle School community produces some of the best marketing materials
📽 Don’t forget to check out the VOD of the 181-player European Championships
⚔️ Czech Premodern has a match between UW Dreadnought and Deadguy Ale. Some of the best paper coverage around!
🦷 The Argentinean community has launched the Argentog website with tournament recaps, as well as future plans for interviews, deck analyses, and more.
🔮 The bracket challenge for the 2023 Super Gauntlet will be released later this week in which you can predict the winners to win a wonderful altered Future Sight. Keep an eye out for an announcement by Michael Arnold on Facebook and Discord.
