Cascading for Balance

Hello everyone and welcome to my second Blog Post and my first for 2014. May I get a Happy New Year's in the house!? Ah, I can't hear you so please sound it out on the comment section! Anyway, today's post is actually about a very budget-friendly Modern Combo deck that saw it's beginnings in the lost, ancient format we once knew as Extended. By now, Extended is basically the Atlantis of formats, sunken somewhere into oceans of myth and legend, except that, unlike Atlantis, Extended actually existed (or did it?) and we get to see its remains constantly in Modern. Decks like Zoo, Scapeshift, Tron, Jund variants, Junk decks, Storm decks and more, are all ruins of the Old Extended that now form the foundations of Modern. Perhaps the Restore Balance/Cascade deck isn't part of this foundation, yet it is a vestige of times bygone.

Let's face it, this deck is so far off the radar that it doesn't even have an actual name. Some people called it Balancing Tings which is reminiscent of a Terravore/Balancing Act that roamed the tables of Extended tournaments back in 2007 (here's an example). Around 2010, they named it Garga-Geddon and made an appearance at GP Oakland (coverage found here). Fast-forward to 2013, the deck is simply known as, "Restore Balance." Well, I won't have it! Henceforth, Restore Balance shall be officially known as Garga-Geddon... again... Why? Because, it will amuse me! Though not as much as it will amuse you if we just hit the crust of the pizza that is this Blog post.

To reiterate, this deck has been around for four years now spawning a number of articles and Youtube videos throughout the years, most notably a series of Building on a Budget articles that can be found here, here, and here; a deck tech from Pro Tour Amsterdam; and another more recent deck tech of a very intriguing version of Garga-Geddon that went undefeated at a Magic Online Daily.

The last list I mentioned is quite unlike any other, forgoing much of the Borderpost action in favor of a complete manabase, creatures that cycle, mana ramp with Search for Tomorrow and a couple of the Return to Ravnica Keyrunes that serve as even more creatures at a moment's notice. To save you the burden of having to go to the link, here's the list:

Pilot: Spanky_kc
Cards - 60

Creatures - 20
4 Greater Gargadon
4 Nihilith
4 Deadshot Minotour
4 Monstrous Carabid
4 Simian Spirit Guide

Spells - 18
3 Restore Balance
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Violent Outburst
4 Demonic Dread
2 Rakdos Keyrune
1 Golgari Keyrune

Lands - 22
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
3 Copperline Gorge
1 Forbidden Orchard
2 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
2 Swamp
2 Treetop Village
4 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard -
3 Ingot Chewer
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Slaughter Games

Upon closer inspection and recalling the interesting points to note about this deck, the most striking aspect of this list is its manabase. Again, Spanky forwent the 12-land/16-Borderpost route in order to have a more consistent plan of mana development. Curiously, along with the cycling creatures, the deck closely resembles a Living End deck. It even plays Simian Spirit Guide for the option of turn 2 Cascade-into-Balance trick, or of speeding up the cycling, and/or of accelerating into his mana ramp. If we were to play the more traditional version of Garga-Geddon, Spirit Guide would still be a fine card to play. Aside from accelerating and having the oft chance of giving you a needed red source, exiling it reduces your hand size so that the Balances become better at shredding your opponents' hands.

Spirit Guide's role is slightly broader in Spanky's version., too. In his creation (at least, I suppose that it is his creation), attacking with Spirit Guide is an actual plan. I can easily fathom a game where attacking with that motley crue of cyclers and Spirit Guides is a plausible form of victory. That's another difference between Spanky's deck and traditional 'Geddon--the former has an Aggro-Combo mentality, while the latter follows the Combo-Control mindset. Spanky's Restore Balances act as enablers for playing Gargadons and Nihiliths faster while sweeping the board and Mind Twisting the opponent.

Traditional 'Geddon, on the other hand, use Restore Balance as either a Wrath of God or as a sort of Cruel Ultimatum. Against aggro, the first couple of Balance resolutions will keep you alive, then the subsequent Balances will cripple an opponent with March of the Machines and Greater Gargadon fulfilling the job of the clean up crew. Against Control, it is all about casting a Balance that can pretty much destroy an entire board, so that your win conditions do the rest of the dirty work. Put simply:

Restore Balance in Aggro-Combo = Proactive
Restore Balance in Combo-Control = Reactive

Every Keyrune, Spirit Guide, and Search for Tomorrow, along with 22 lands, reflect that Spanky counts on actually casting those big monsters. I mean, what else is he going to do with all that mana? The way the deck is set up, makes it so that the deck matches better against the Aggro-Control decks that crop up around Modern, like UWR Aggro-Control with Geist of Saint Traft and Vendilion Cliques. However,  his list lacks the efficiency the traditional lists have of fighting off decks that heavily depend on lands to further their game plans (Tron and Scapeshift, for example). This is where knowing your Metagame becomes highly important. Thus, this traditional Garga-Geddon list for comparison and consideration:

Modern Garga-Geddon

Creatures - 4
4 Greater Gargadon

Spells - 44
4 Veinfire Borderpost
3 Mistvein Borderpost
4 Firewild Borderpost
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Wildfield Borderpost
4 Restore Balance
2 March of the Machines
2 Darksteel Ingot
1 Beast Within
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Violent Outburst
4 Ardent Plea
4 Demonic Dread
3 Thirst for Knowledge

Lands - 12
3 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Evolving Wilds
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Mountain
1 Plains

Sideboard -
3 Firespout
3 Ricochet Trap
2 Dismember
2 Sin Collector
1 Wipe Away
4 Leyline of Sanctity

Usually after posting a list, I supplement it with a card by card breakdown, since I already did that in a video (with a bonus match) that you can find by clicking here, I'm just going to touch on the changes I made to the deck and discuss the merits of playing either version.

If you took the time to watch the video, you'll notice that the differences are in the manabase and the Sideboard. Taking mental notes on the way the manabase was performing made me realize that I needed at least three of each of the Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse. Initially, I was afraid of not being able to Borderpost on turn one if I had to crack an Expanse or Wilds instead. Fortunately, that fear quickly dissipated when I realized that you could still play two Borderposts on turn two if that was the case. I mean you can still, turn one crack Expanse, turn two play Borderpost returning the searched land, replay the land and return for a second Borderpost, all without missing a beat. Furthermore, these search lands help thin out the deck to avoid running into excess lands when you need spells in the late-game. There are deck lists with four of each search land. It may be correct, but feels redundant and clunky.

Turning our attention to the Sideboard, I removed a Sin Collector and the three Lingering Souls for Leyline of Sanctity. During the recording of the video, I made mention that I was fond of the idea of playing Sanctities in the 'Board to help against decks packing hand disruption (e.g Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, Vendilion Clique, Duress), because those spells can target Borderposts. A discard effect nailing a 'Post might as well be a Stone Rain for our game plan, making this a problem. It gets worse when the disruption comes with Abrupt Decays and any leftover Affinity hate (Affinity, Robots, call it what you want) decks might be sporting. Leyline essentially makes this a non-issue.

Additionally, research in the aforementioned articles reveals that our biggest enemy is Ancient Grudge and for good reason. Ancient Grudge can destroy two Borderposts by itself. Therefore, taking Spanky's list to battle seems to be the cleanest option we have; either that, or max out on Darksteel Ingots. On the surface, Grudge does seem devastating, though if it's any consolation, the deck does not really need piles of lands to operate. Being able to generate three mana at any time is all you really want for this deck to function properly. Even with your back against the wall, suspending a Restore Balance and having it resolve is sometimes enough to have your opponents concede or to get back into the swing of things--yes, Balance is and can be that powerful.

Personally, both versions of Garga-Geddon are perfectly fine depending on your local Metagame. And your main deck and Sideboard should be tweaked to reflect that. If you don't know what to expect, then I do suggest you play Spanky's list. His list is easier to tweak for unknown Metagames, to the point that you can probably take that exact list and do alright for yourself at a GP. Not to mention that, compared to my (roughly) fifteen dollar Garga-Geddon, his is higher in price due to the Fetchlands and all the dual lands. Regardless, that is the sacrifice you will have to make if you want to have a better shot at a Grand Prix. Having access to a stronger manabase that is largely Green, Black, and Red means you get to play with some of the same cards decks of the same colors are playing. In the repertoire of three-plus mana spells that you can cast in those colors without screwing up the cascades, you have Liliana of the Veil, Chandra, Pyromaster, Maelstrom Pulse, and more. Come to think of it, if you are adding all these card... why not just play Jund? Or Living End since it's mostly the same shell.

Speaking of Grand Prixes, Grand Prix Prague is the first Modern GP of 2014, which will be held on the weekend of January 11th. If you are looking to battle it out over there, then here are two deck lists to consider. What you should be aware of is that the European Metagame can be radically different that of the Western Hemisphere. Honestly, I'd suggest playing a proven deck with decent match ups across the board, that is slightly tailored to suit your strengths. Unless you just want to have fun or not a lot of money, in which case, by all means pick up Garaga-Geddon. It's a fun deck with very powerful plays.

So, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the end-of-year celebrations and may 2014 bring you with many blessings, many wacky decks, and many victories!

Always affectionately,
Chris