Breaking Block: Investing in AIG (All-In Green)

In an earlier post, I explored what I thought to be the most important axis of the new Zendikar block format, abundant high-quality mass removal. Today, I’m going to look at what I think is the second most important choke point: explosive mana. There are conservative ways to exercise curve jumping like Everflowing Chalice and Eldrazi Temple, and I looked at them in some of my earliest posts (here and here) because that is where I expect the best decks to settle.

But I’m not going to be conservative today. I’m going to present the most powerful piece of mana-bludgeoning I can devise. The exciting thing is, while I expect some hybrid conservatively-big-mana control deck to be the best performing big-mana deck, I wouldn’t be shocked if some All-in-Green iteration was a major player in the format. Green mana is on steroids this block, both in terms of power and incidental functionality, and the outputs for that mana are also wonderful. I previously noted that much of the green mana is creature based and vulnerable to the format’s mass removal.

Breaking Block: Where Should I Wedge This Stick? Part 1

When you approach a deckbuilding exercise, for instance Pro Tour San Juan at the end of May, you are going to spend a lot of time poring through spoilers and brainstorming new creations. Sure, there’s a wealth of 2-set information to use as a jump off point, but the influx of cards from Rise of the Eldrazi and metagame influences from players who aren’t weaned on MTGO queues means that you and your team will have to figure out a lot for yourselves. It’s an exciting time, but also an overwhelming one.

You may prefer to play a certain kind of deck all the time, in which case your job is a lot easier. Just find the best tools available to that strategy. Probably though, your goal is a comprehensive (or as close as you can get) understanding of the new metagame and a reasonable prediction of what the best deck is going to be. To that end, you can, of course, bash your head against a brick wall. Eyeball cards that seem good and groups of cards that seem synergistic and throw best-estimate lists together. Throw them against each other and you’ll see what sticks out. Accentuate the strong parts, refine the numbers, sand off the soft masses. Decide these are the decks people will be playing. Then set about trying to beat those decks.