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UG Madness Primer
Everyone knows this deck. Even newbies have played or played against it
in the horrid and stale Type 2 format. Together with MBC, it dominated
OdBC. Alongside Tog and Opposition, it decimated other Standard legal
decks. Even so, everyone was shocked it could have this prolific effect
on the most diverse format of Magic history.
UG Madness
Land (22)
10 Island
7 Forest
1 City of Brass
4 Yavimaya Coast
Creatures (22)
3 Aquamoeba
3 Waterfront Bouncer
2 Wonder
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Arrogant Wurm
2 Roar of the Wurm
Other (16)
4 Careful Study
4 Daze
4 Circular Logic
1 Intuition
3 Deep Analysis
Sideboard (15)
2 Gilded Drake
2 Spellbane Centaur
3 Ray of Revelation
4 Submerge
4 Powder Keg
I'd first like to note my belief in Cunningham's statement that UG
Madness is indeed better with 'Moeba than Merfolk Looter. I
wholeheartedly believe Looter is much better in Type 2, but you have to
note that they are two different formats. You only need to look at 2
RotWs to 4 RotWs. The only thing that really separates the two is the
dominance of Pernicious Deed. Deed demands speed or complete reliance on
A. Wurm and straining your situational counterbase. You don't want
that...
The deck's basic game derives from the classic aggro-control archetype.
It is fast enough to run over control, and enough counters to stall
combo until it can win. Its ONE BIG WEAKNESS is that aggro-control
SHOULD NOT beat basic aggro. This has hindered the archetype for a long
time. What's the point of piloting a deck that takes out the
money-mongering combo and control decks if you lose to random scrubs
with Sligh decks?
But UG Madness is a way different bred. It has the same idea as any
other semi-successful aggro-control. Indeed, it IS almost the same.
Take CounterSliver, for instance. CounterSliver was said to take out
control easily, and put a very good fight for Trix and PandeBurst. It
did win some GPs and PTQs, but never really escaped Sligh and Suicide
Black. The decks look almost the same too. Wonder is Winged Sliver
(evades aggro-scum). Wild Mongrel is Muscle Sliver (makes the deck
competitive). Waterfront Bouncer is Hibernation Sliver (takes cards
instead of life, but bounces opposing crits too). The only difference is
A. Wurm and RotW compared to Crystalline Sliver, but that was the key.
Forget the powerful mana base that allowed Swords to Plowshares, Duress,
and Force of Will. Forget the invincibility to burn and targeted
removal. There was no real threat to aggro, just a bunch of Slivers
looking to work together for the good of the cause.
UG Madness's edge is in its fatties. Everything else looks inferior to
CounterSliver. CS even had a better mana base, considering that it could
pull duals out quickly, and would have given up so much just to use the
Onslaught fetchlands of today. CS had StP, Duress, FoW, and their Wonder
could even attack. But they didn't have flying 4/4s and 6/6s by the 5th
turn. This is the distinct reason why UG is probably the best
aggro-control of all time.
The basic overview of how it works is laughable: the deck plays itself
out. Careful Study first turn should yield a better land draw,
Rootwallas for free, or just dump Wonder and RotW. This play opens up
Wild Mongrel second turn, and third turn is best with Mongrel swinging
for an A. Wurm. Then simply pull out RotW or just lay back with
Waterfront Bouncer stalling while Mongrel and 'Wallas are beating. If
you must, go find Wonder and the Deep Analysis with Intuition. This will
give you extra food for Mongrel or makes your army fly. You only lose if
the deck doesn't work. Circular Logic and Daze aggressively; you should
develop faster than midgame and control, but have more fat against
aggro. |
