As Nationals approaches, I have decided to make an investigation into Standard in the hopes of finding a home for a power so gravely under-represented in the format. Project T is a quest to find a home for Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, arguably the most powerful Planeswalker in Standard following the banning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor. The cost of wielding such a power is the relatively narrow selection of cards that must be utilized effectively in order for Tezzeret to compare favourably to Jace. The cost for such power has put many players off even attempting to get the Agent to work, but a few inquiring minds have given us a glimpse at the raw power being ignored here.
In this post I intend to explore the three primary designs that have put Tezzeret to effective use in Standard since his printing in Mirrodin Besieged, as well as pondering means of evolving the concepts for the future. Does Tezzeret stand a chance of being a secret weapon at Nationals? Let us begin our investigation.
Display Deck StatisticsDuring the initial rise of Caw-Blade following Pro Tour Paris, an Infect deck cropped up providing an alternative set of creatures to wield the Sword of Feast and Famine. Phyrexian Crusader alone was reason enough to consider the deck, as it posed a significant threat to the popular Squadron Hawks and Lightning Bolts dominating the format.
With the ability to play an aggressive clock with a variety of efficient Infect creatures as well as Creeping Tar Pits and animated artifacts, the deck proved to be difficult to handle if unprepared, very much leading to the heavy presence of Inkmoth Nexus in modern day Caw-Blade lists. Inquisition of Kozilek and Planeswalkers allow the deck to keep up its momentum during the mid-game, or even take on the role of control. Though the loss of the Mind Sculptor was felt heavily, the deck continues to show power. I first heard of the infect strategy in a Regional report from the excellent UK player Cyrus Bales on Manaleak’s new article site, and I was so convinced by his report that I sleeved up the deck and ran it at my first qualifier of the season. Though I narrowly missed out on qualifying at the event, I knew that greater experience would have allowed me to push further.
Recently Cyrus Bales repeated his success with the deck (with obvious, minor updates) and yet again his report works well towards convincing me of its viability. Ratchet Bomb is an all-star right now, being capable of answering Splinter Twin, Tempered Steel and Caw-Blade with relative efficiency. Brittle Effigy left me quite unconvinced, and Despise feels like a meta choice at best. But the raw power of the skeleton is undeniable, and will be explored further in the near future.
| //Based on design by Martin Juza | |
|---|---|
| 4 | Darkslick Shores |
| 4 | Drowned Catacomb |
| 4 | Inkmoth Nexus |
| 7 | Swamp |
| 5 | Island |
| 1 | Blightsteel Colossus |
| 1 | Wurmcoil Engine |
| 4 | Kuldotha Forgemaster |
| 3 | Spellskite |
| 4 | Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas |
| 4 | Inquisition of Kozilek |
| 1 | Duress |
| 4 | Preordain |
| 1 | Mindslaver |
| 4 | Everflowing Chalice |
| 3 | Sphere of the Suns |
| 3 | Ratchet Bomb |
| 3 | Tumble Magnet |
At Pro Tour Paris, the Tezzeret deck that attracted the most attention wasn’t the most successful, but was undoubtedly the most intriguing. Martin Juza and his team developed a deck that could efficiently drop a Blightsteel Colossus onto the field to swing for the win on turn 5. Though this strategy had been attempted repeatedly with Shape Anew, to little success, Martin Juza took a very different approach in working the powerful artifact-hungry engine that is Kuldotha Forgemaster. Early disruption with Inquisition (a necessity in a format that became increasingly combo-friendly with the subsequent releases of New Phyrexia and M12) allowed for acceleration into either a turn 3 Planeswalker or turn 4 Forgemaster. The above list is an attempt at an updated list, but for Juza’s original check it out here as it is investigated thoroughly by Patrick Chapin.
Blightsteel Colossus remains an effective win condition in Standard. The loss of Jace works in its favour as it leaves control with very few effective answers, with Oblivion Ring being effective in the time it takes to load three counters on a Ratchet Bomb. Tempered Steel provides an undeniable threat, with Dispatch making short work or the relevant combo pieces and the speed of the deck being quite unlike anything seen at Pro Tour Paris. But is Tempered Steel truly the deck to beat? At present, it appears that Caw-Blade and Valakut will be the decks to beat at Nationals, and Forgemaster has always had an excellent game against the Molten Pinnacle.
It can be argued that the success of Forgemaster strategies on Standard now heavily depends on the popularity of Dismember, but let’s not forget an equally influential artifact that saw print in that very same set! Spellskite shows huge potential in this strategy, just as it does in Splinter Twin, and can even be put to solid late-game use thanks to Tezzeret, be it for burn or beats. Do Solemn Simulacrum and Ponder have a home in this deck? M12 continued to work in Forgemaster’s favour, but such a complex weapon demands a lot of attention to find success in a format dominated by efficient engines.
Japan had the honour of introducing the new M12-legal Standard format with its own National Championship in the middle of July, and the famous control player Shouta Yasooka brought Tezzeret right back into the spotlight. During the unfortunately short lifetime of the Scars of Mirrodin Block constructed format at Pro Tour Nagoya, Tezzeret based UB Control decks were powerful and common. In that format they utilised an effective card advantage engine abusing Ichor Wellspring and Mycosynth Wellspring, with cards like Tezzeret and Phyrexia’s Core draining extra advantage as the game runs long.
Though this engine is yet to see success in the undeniably faster and more demanding Standard format, the standard skeleton existed and simply required powerful artifice to attack the metagame with. Enter Torpor Orb! The card proved a great success for Shouta Yasooka at Grand Prix Singapore, and sticking to his guns allowed him to break into the top 8 at Japan Nationals with a list that certainly stands out against the more conventional UB control decks. A mixed package of controlling cards supplemented by a Planeswalker became a standard with Shards of Alara, but the banning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor resulted in little more than an automatic shift to lower numbers of Jace Beleren to replace him. The introduction of new, and overall underwhelming, Planeswalkers in M12 had left Tezzeret long forgotten.
Thankfully, Magic is no longer a game dependent entirely on large events such as Nationals to provide new metagame reads and exposure of effective technology. Starcitygames Open events provide an influx of new decks with relative frequency, but it is Magic Online that proves to be the breeding ground for new decks with potential. Over the past couple of weeks Tezzeret control lists similar to the design championed by Yasooka have been finding relative success during Daily events, seizing an increasing number of 3-1 and 4-0 slots. The deck shows great promise, but also great potential to evolve. Numbers and technology are crucial for a control deck to succeed in any environment, and the ability to dig for the appropriate tools with Tezzeret allows for great creativity at a far lower risk. I expect Tezzeret control to claim further top 8 slots by the end of the season.
Agents are Coming...
Three lists, three potentials, and three very different directions. Tezzeret is a weapon of proven success, but minimal dedication. Which direction is likely to yield the best results? Can Blight-Blade compete with the efficiency and playtesting manpower behind Caw-Blade? Does Forgemaster combo warrant a revival in a wider, combo-oriented format? These questions remain, but I am without doubt that Tezzeret control has great potential to break the format right now, but it is far from clear whether the deck can be refined to surgically dismantle the dominant strategies whilst remaining stable and consistent enough to tackle rogue strategies without falling apart.
With just under two weeks remaining before Nationals, I hope beyond all hope that an efficient Tezzeret deck can be found in Standard in order to tackle Nationals without encountering mirror matches every other round! Please vote for the deck you believe carries the most potential, and I will make that deck the focal point of my initial testing, and expect it to be the focus of my next article. In Stage 2, I will be working through variations of the chosen deck, discussing strategy and testing results. Should that stage be successful, Stage 3 will be live experience of using the deck in a competitive environment. Stay tuned!
