Devin Koepke: Company Man

Another weekend gone, another tournament done, and all I ask myself after one of these things is “is it worth it?” Is it worth the travel and the time for another out-of-the-money finish? My gut always says so, which is probably why I continue to do what I do, but maybe I was fooling myself.

Thankfully, I got my answer by winning the Star City Games Columbus Open, and it was pretty great. collectedcompanyIt’s been a while since I have done anything in Magic and it feels kinda nice for that to change. (Spoiler alert: Collected Company was involved.)

It started off just like every other tournament weekend — meeting a few folks in a parking lot, jumping in a car, and making sure I don’t die. As it turns out I do not own Standard cards; I never have, so I leave the deck that I’m going to play up to my good friend Jacob Baugh. Jake and I have been through a lot of stuff over the past few years, and if I had to pick one person that I’m glad I met playing Magic, Jake would certainly rank up there with the best of the best.

Jake owns all the cards and I pick and choose from what he decides not to play. Thank God he was on some Black-Green control monstrosity because if not, I wouldn’t have gotten to play this gem.

 

 

So essentially this deck was a really sweet Week 1 deck, as it was an established deck in the past season that got three new incredible cards that slotted in pretty perfectly in to the deck. There’s really nothing more to say about this than has already been said.

Fast forward a week to the Star City Games Open in Baltimore:

 

This deck is essentially the same as the deck I ran in Columbus; I cut a Thalia for another Avacyn in the main and made a few sideboard changes that were a pipe dream and shouldn’t be taken seriously. The extra Avacyn was busted, as she always is; easily the most powerful card in the deck and the one that can provide the most swings. If you combo Avacyn with Selfless Spirit you can create a board state that is nothing to be trifled with. As for the board, all we wanted to do was beat the mirror. Ten cards for the mirror sounds like a lot, but I think that if 50 percent of the room was playing the deck, then we should be prepared for it. So the board plan was:

-4 Collected Company
-4 Spell Queller
-2 Thalia

+Tireless Tracker; Ojutai’s Command; Dragonlord Dromoka; Linvala, the Preserver; Declaration in Stone; and Tragic Arrogance.

You could also bring in the Negates, but I always erred on the side of caution.

The general rule for me is if you’re boarding in the sweepers you may want to cut the Quellers; no point in countering all their things if you’re just going to give them back later, right?

The sideboarding strategy was the revolution to others in the group. They heard CUT THE COLLECTED COMPANIES!!!!!! and it was blasphemy, I tell you. But sometimes you have to slit the sacred cow’s throat to get to the delicious innards.

The problem with this deck is its mana is more prone to stumbles than a drunken baby running a marathon, so if you decide to play the deck I would consider adding another Canopy Vista and cutting a Thalia. Twenty-six lands is where you want to be at, and even though Thalia is legitimately great, she doesn’t give the same smoothness that Nissa does. The easiest way to lose a match with this deck is not having enough lands. Nissa fixes that and is kind of a beast later on in the game whereas Thalia is still just a Thalia later on.

Linvala and Dromoka underperformed, and I would cut them going forward. The format’s natural reaction to fighting Bant Company is playing more sweepers and controlling cards, so instead of the big fliers, I would highly recommend playing the max amount of Negates the T.O. will let you register. By controlling cards I mainly mean Liliana, the Last Hope, Languish, and Descend Upon the Sinful. Heck, I played my first match this weekend against a Black/White control deck that was playing main deck Hallowed Moonlights. I don’t think I played that match particularly well and lost because of it, but I am human and am allowed to lose a couple of matches every now and again.

The way that the deck is constructed right now, the best way to attack it would be to overload on removal spells. Grasp of Darkness and Languish are ideal because they get around Selfless Spirit‘s ability. The deck used to have a problem with big fliers like Thunderbreak Regent, but now that Bant Company plays anywhere from 8 to 12 fliers post board it’s harder to win in the air.

But I do think that could be a viable strategy as long as the individual cards are good enough. Some other possible ways to attack Bant Company via the skies:

  1. Linvala, the Preserver: Not only is this the definition of a “catch up” card, but its worst case is a 5/5 flier that can end the game relatively quickly. This card is incredibly difficult to slog through especially if you have other things on the board.
  2. Dragonlord Silumgar: Same kind of deal as Linvala — a huge flier that can block everything and could potentially steal a great threat like a Tireless Tracker. He can swing boards and survives a Languish. I would expect this card to see a rise in popularity as long as Bant continues to be a prominent player in the meta.
  3. Dragonlord Dromoka: Huge butt, can’t be countered with Ojutai’s command and messes up the flash/instant speed element of the Bant deck. The lifelink can be backbreaking.

If you notice a trend here, all the creatures can block everything out of the Bant deck except for a Avacyn, the Purifier, and a buffed Lumbering Falls. Sometimes you just have to play the cards that line up profitably against what’s being played.

I’m probably going to be getting in a car to be playing in the Star City Games Regional Championship next weekend and I will certainly be playing Bant. It’s the best deck in Standard so far and has the most untapped tools at its disposal. Good luck at whatever you’re doing and make sure that it’s making you happy.

Until next time my name is Devin Koepke, and I’m in love with the CoCo.

Devin Koepke is a Midwest grinder who will jump in a car and travel off to a far off land at any opportunity. Specializing in whatever the tournament is that weekend, he has a wide range of knowledge and skills that he is excited to share with you. So sit back, crack open an ice cold beverage and get your Hot Pocket out of the microwave, because this is going to be fun. 

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Devin Koepke