Feature Article – Mythic Evolution
Posted by Luis Scott-Vargas
July 4, 2010 | 
23 comments
Mythic Conscription is one of the top performing decks in Standard, but since Matt Sperling’s original PTQ winning list, not much has been written about alternative card choices for the deck. For example, when the metagame was full of UW Control, Mythic pilots seemed content to simply sleeve up Baneslayer Angels, despite Gideon Jura being a more effective card. There are quite a few slots to work with, which can be configured for a particular metagame or for versatility in a diverse field.
The core of the deck consists of 16 mana creatures – 4 each of Birds of Paradise, Noble Hierarch, Lotus Cobra, and Knight of the Reliquary – and 4 Sovereigns of Lost Alara with 2 Eldrazi Conscriptions to search up. Assuming 25 lands, there are 13 open slots to fill out the middle of the curve. The original lists played Rhox War Monk, Baneslayer Angel, and then a handful of planeswalkers, usually 3 Jace and 2 Elspeth. Other options include Rafiq of the Many, Finest Hour, Dauntless Escort, Gideon Jura, and even Time Warp. In general, Mythic wants threats that have a large impact on the board. Baneslayer Angel is the obvious route to take, but it is not necessarily optimal, depending on what you want to beat.
The configuration of the open slots can greatly affect matchups. The early lists were built to beat Jund and other creature decks, with a handful of planeswalkers as a hedge against UW. This left the deck very vulnerable to Day of Judgment. When UW became dominant, players started adopting Dauntless Escort in place of Rhox War Monk. That was certainly reasonable, but the Escort can neither bash past Wall of Omens nor block anything at all. Why not build a deck to beat UW without the need for such a situational card? I won the Day 2 PTQ in San Juan with the following list.
A turn 3 Planeswalker is one of the best ways to beat UW control. This deck is able to make that play nearly every game, obviating the necessity of playing suboptimal cards like Dauntless Escort. Rhox War Monk is much better at defending planeswalkers against other decks and can be quite a beating with Elspeth’s Angelic Blessing ability. In addition to the extra planeswalkers, this build opts for extra Stirring Wildwoods instead of Sunpetal Groves, which are excellent at attacking opposing Jaces.
The heavy complement of planeswalkers subtly changes how the deck plays. It’s now more of an aggro-control deck that looks to establish a board presence with a mix of creatures and planeswalkers before eventually closing the game with a Sovereigns. This is particularly apparent in the mirror (or against any Noble Hierarch deck, such as Naya or Next Level Bant), where Jace and Gideon are often used to aggressively attack the opponent’s mana creatures, setting them too far behind to recover. A Planeswalker is more versatile and resilient than a giant dork like Baneslayer Angel; this allows you to tie up your opponent’s resources, giving you an opportunity to land a Sovereigns. With fewer expensive removal targets, this version of Mythic is better suited against spot removal and more effective at maintaining and pressing the tempo advantage generated by its acceleration package.
About a week after the PTQ, I traveled to Manila on a (Mythic) quest for Pro Points. After being spoiled by our Filipino hosts (special thanks to Konrad Tayao and friends), I tested with Alex West, Sam Black, and Mat Marr to tune my list. In particular, I was looking for an optimal sideboard plan against Jund. Jund’s sideboard plan against Mythic is potentially scary, with Jund Charms/Pyroclasms, Doom Blades, and sometimes Consuming Vapors or even Cunning Sparkmage or Royal Assassin. I explored several options, including Mind Spring, Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Negate, and a Vengevine plan. Mind Spring had been fine for me in the past as a way to reload after Jund exhausted its spot removal, but more testing revealed that I could rarely afford to tap out without affecting the board, so Sphinx took its place. Vengevine was OK, but Mythic can’t return it consistently enough. Unlike Naya or Next Level Bant, Mythic does not have Bloodbraids or Rangers to fuel the plants. Negate was also too situational to be worthwhile, since you want to be tapping out on most turns. Ultimately, I changed 0 cards in the maindeck and 4 cards in the sideboard from the above list – I cut the Mind Springs and a Deprive for 3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle and the 4th Rhox War Monk.
I sideboarded like this for the GP:
UW:
-3 Rhox War Monk -2 Lotus Cobra
+4 Negate +1 Deprive
The game plan against UW is to stick a turn 3 planeswalker and then back it up with another one or some Negates. You shouldn’t keep hands without either an accelerant or a Negate. I don’t like boarding out Sovereigns for Sphinxes here, since it isn’t that difficult to engineer a Sovereigns turn. Part of the strategy is to make Day of Judgment weak; Sphinx makes it live again.
Mirror/Naya:
-3 Rhox War Monk -3 Elspeth
+3 Bant Charm +3 Linvala
The mirror is all about mana advantage. Don’t be afraid to Bant Charm a Lotus Cobra (or even a Hierarch) on turn 2. Following that up with a Jace, Linvala, or Gideon can be backbreaking.
Naya is similar, though they are less threatening (except for Cunning Sparkmage). Gideon really shines here as a versatile way to kill Sparkmage. Bant Charm conveniently answers either Sparkmage or Collar.
Jund:
-4 Jace
+3 Sphinx +1 War Monk
Raising the curve isn’t ideal, but you need a way to beat their removal and to actually kill them. They kill most of your threats, so you rarely get much early damage in. Sphinx or Sovereigns (ideally both) allows you to close out the game quickly. Sphinx is better than Baneslayer against them, since it forces them to race rather than simply find another removal spell.
Next Level Bant:
-3 Rhox War Monk -2 Lotus Cobra
+2 Bant Charm +3 Negate
War Monk doesn’t do too much against their walls. They play their share of planeswalkers, which are very important in the matchup, so Negate can steal tempo, especially on the draw. Cutting a few Cobras is okay, since they don't significantly attack your accelerants.
I convinced Alex and Mat to play my list in the GP and we posted some solid performances. The three of us made day 2; Alex finished 11th and I placed 22nd. The list was very strong in a more diverse GP field – I played against a mix of Jund, Next Level Bant, UW, and random stuff like Vampires, Mono-Red, and G/X Monument.
I was satisfied with my card choices for the tournament. I don't miss Baneslayer at all; I've found Gideon to be better in the majority of situations. I’d still like to find a replacement for War Monks, since they tend to be mediocre (but still better than Dauntless). I've looked into Sea Gate Oracle or Wall of Omens to play more defensively, but those cards are at odds with what the deck wants to do – play only threats. I've also considered some non-creature mana acceleration, like Rampant Growth or Explore. Those cards would be good in the matchups in which your accelerants are under fire, but they have the same problem of decreasing threat density.
Finding the optimal sideboard plan against removal-heavy Jund is an open problem. Efficient shrouded threats are ideal, but Sphinx is the only powerful choice and it costs a bit too much mana. Conscripting a Calcite Snapper is a possibility, but the turtle is weak on its own. Morphing into a Vengevine deck after sideboarding is an interesting option, but ultimately uses too many slots to be worthwhile. Attempting to play an attrition war against Jund is a losing proposition; it is better to avoid doing so. Hopefully M11 will introduce an efficient creature with Shroud.
Lately, Red decks have been increasing in popularity. Since my build doesn't run Baneslayers, some changes are warranted to combat them. One option is to add Baneslayers back in, but I still prefer Gideon as a maindeck card. With some help, Gideon is excellent against Red anyway. Baneslayers could go in the sideboard, but Kor Firewalkers fill the curve much more nicely. I would cut the Deprive and the 3 Sphinxes for a set of Firewalkers. To help cast the Firewalkers on time, I would also cut 2 Stirring Wildwoods for 2 Sunpetal Groves. The sideboarding plan becomes:
-4 Sovereigns –2 Conscription –3 Jace –2 Lotus Cobra
+4 Kor Firewalker +3 Bant Charm +4 Negate
The plan against Red is to lower the curve, thereby reducing dependence on accelerants. They still have to kill your Birds and Hierarchs in the early turns, but you have enough cheap creatures to be able to curve out anyway.
This heavy planeswalker version of Mythic is a bit different than the stock lists running around. It allows you to play a more ground-out game without giving up any power, since fast planeswalkers provide significant card advantage. I’d recommend my list to anyone looking to qualify for Amsterdam with a more versatile Mythic deck.
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Luis Scott-Vargas
LSV is the current record holder for most wins in the Swiss portion of a Pro Tour after his perfect 16-0 run at Pro Tour San Diego 2010, and has the highest lifetime match win percentage among all current pro-level players. His other accomplishments include a win at Pro Tour&hellip
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Nicol Bolas says: July 4, 2010 @ 9:34 pm
Mythic just got more mythical…man I wish I could afford to play this deck.
drawingdead says: July 4, 2010 @ 10:40 pm
you mention sphinx in your board plans yet i dont see any in the list that was posted
lsv says: July 4, 2010 @ 10:42 pm
@ drawingdead
If you read where Tom talks about the list he played in Manila, he mentions that he cut Mind Springs for Sphinxes in the sb.
Aeka says: July 4, 2010 @ 11:02 pm
Nice article. I like how you didn’t come up with a conclusive list but went through the different possibilities and why you think some are better than others. I’ve been running Gideon over Baneslayer in my own Mythic list and definitely prefer it against everything except Red. I think you gain more advantage against Red by having Firewalkers in the board anyway – they tend to kill your mana creatures and often you just die before you reach Baneslayer mana if you don’t happen to have a War Monk in hand.
Have you considered Deft Duelist as a possible shroud threat? I know it isn’t particularly game changing, but the first strike works well with the exalted triggers. It also is pretty awesome against Red, blocking Hellsparks, Ball Lightnings and Kiln Fiends. I would definitely consider them before Calcite Snapper.
Boland says: July 5, 2010 @ 12:00 am
I’ve been playing the turtle a bit and he seems ok
Ferocious_Pug says: July 5, 2010 @ 12:56 am
I’m happy to see Rhox War Monk getting some love. I play him in the 3-drop slot of NLB, but thats not relevant to this article. The comment about monk not bashing through NLB’s walls though, I have to disagree with. A monk with a hierarch out certainly does go through Wall of Omens or Sea Gate Oracle, or whatever was put in the way early, and nets you 4 life in the process.
Funny thing, the reason you’ve looked at Oracle and Wall of Omens to go more defensive. I switched Oracles TO War Monks to get more offensive, on the thought that Oracle gives a blocker and hope to find the next threat within the next 2 cards. What if the Oracle slot WAS a threat….that coupled with the heavy red meta I play in and viola: a more aggressive NLB with a 3 drop that doesn’t die to Lightning bolt. At the PTQ I went 5-2-1 and never lost a game to either RDW I faced. At one point, when the opponent commented on having to use both a searing blaze and forked bolt to kill a monk, we both knew it wasn’t in his favor getting 2-for-1′d in RDW which runs out of gas anyway. 2nd opponent mistakenly thought I was Consription from the early mana dorks, and burned through spells before I even got to the first monk + Elspeth. Didn’t last long after that.
Anyway, great article. Anything that isnt about Turboland recently makes my day. Happy to see the non-cascading monster still get some coverage, regardles of which version of BANT it is.
W A MacMurdo says: July 5, 2010 @ 1:44 am
Cool list. Im thinking that if I go to my nationals I will be playing this deck, and it is good to see alternatives to the stock list as there hasnt been much talk about conscription on this site as of late. How would you alter your sideboard for a jund heavy metagame?
ody says: July 5, 2010 @ 4:23 am
I think the choice between Monks and Escorts is totaly based on the decks you expect to play against. Escort is only bad against Bant while I think Monk shines if you draw an Elspeth. Same goes for baneslayer and gideon. I just think baneslayer is more punishing if your opponent doenst have an answer.
About the sideboard plan. Despite playing the deck in like 5-6 tournaments till now I can not come to a conclusion when you keep your sovereighns in and when not. You want them in for the bants for sure and side them out vs Mono red but for example what about jund? You dont side them out as I can see but if the Jund player is good wont he stay back with removal to kill your creature? Or even if he kills your attacking creature the 2nd one will get him? Same goes for control decks where i tend to keep 1 Conscription and 2 SotA in as Sperling suggested in his report but I came to the conclusion that this is not optimal as you sometimes need a 2nd conscription to end the game, or have it in your hand.
Trackback MTGBattlefield says: July 5, 2010 @ 5:33 am
Feature Article – Mythic Evolution…
Your story has been summoned to the battlefield – Trackback from MTGBattlefield…
Vincent says: July 5, 2010 @ 7:20 am
In my opinion it’s a bad idea to cut 2 lotus cobra cause you just kill the deck main win condition (sovereign+conscription) by doing so.
drying out removal from your opponent is the key.
Sure they will bolt those but if you don’t bring those cobra, smart player will bolt all your other dork … so basically you are play 6 mana creatures without any dork.
DSC says: July 5, 2010 @ 7:38 am
For War Monks, Ranger of Eos is a good substitution. By itself it is a weaker creature, but it can be conscripted and it gets you two more creatures, which can help your board presence, mana base, and also be conscripted. Playing Ranger instead of War Monk does, similar to the addition of PWs, cause you to slow your play slightly but I think it is worth it. This change is tough in the RDW matchup however, so plan your sideboard accordingly.
Elmeck says: July 5, 2010 @ 8:32 am
talking about red deck wins…
with an opposing slayer in opponent side… sometimes slayer it´s good, and sometimes it’s to slow…
it’s true that sometimes slayer steal a game, but it’s true that smoldering spires steal a game too
even with my testing partner playing with 4 slayer’s, 3 kor firewalker and 2 rhox war monk after sideoard, i managed a positive score…
PlatypusPlatoon says: July 5, 2010 @ 9:12 am
Thanks for the detailed coverage of the Mythic deck. Despite its popularity, there aren’t very many primers or articles written about it, so it’s always helpful to hear a high-level player’s take on the deck.
Shooter says: July 5, 2010 @ 1:51 pm
Dauntless makes the combo more resilient, so it isn’t that suboptimal as you claim.
Removing the angel+escort package hurts your jund matchup A LOT, since killing everything is their plan, so you need your threats to win the game by their own, something that Gideon fails to accomplish.
It is better vs Mirror (a lot) and Control (just less worse, not good), but Mirror has never been as popular as Jund and you win the Control matchups anyway, so I’ve never seen enough reason to make the swap.
Angel is also better vs random decks, like Vampires/Allies/Monument Green (not that random nowadays).
IMO it is the worst card in the deck, but needed due to the reasons I just listed.
Adam says: July 5, 2010 @ 2:24 pm
I had such a hard time against mono red even with the firewalkers with my previous build. This build, finding ways beside dauntless escort around u/w by increasing the planeswalkers and putting the war monk into the deck is simply perfect. I tweaked it a little due to the fact that I only have two gideon and three jace and can’t really afford the $ to buy either one at this point, I just left in two baneslayers instead. I’ve been doing much better against mono red and the couple games ive had against u/w made me a believer.
Mashi says: July 5, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
Make it Raney!!!
GerryT says: July 5, 2010 @ 5:18 pm
I like your sunglasses.
Adam says: July 5, 2010 @ 6:07 pm
@shooter I agree that baneslayer is necessary but that doesn’t mean that four are. I’ve been doing well with two.
Curious says: July 6, 2010 @ 5:18 am
You talked about putting conscription on a snapper and I was just curious if that was possible since it had shroud. Does the Sovereign somehow get by the fact it can’t be targeted. Again not trying to pick apart your article just curious if that works. Thanks for writing.
Someguy says: July 6, 2010 @ 6:19 am
I’m not 100% sure, but I’m p sure the sovereign ability doesn’t target, so it’s all good to conscript up a shroud creature. It’s “whenever a creature you control attacks, you may blah blah”. There’s not ‘target’ anywhere. I remember this (from the way back MTG machine) when ppl used to confiscate morphlings with academy rectors (or maybe I’m misremembering).
Blazed_247 says: July 6, 2010 @ 6:29 am
I’m thinking that sphinx might not be the greatest sideboard option considering that his shroud keeps him from being able to get conscripted. Also, the good jund players slam your ramp with bolts,doom blades and terminates so getting to six is tough to begin with. I think bsa in the sideboard is a better option. You can bring him in against naya, rdw, and any other aggressive build that doesnt pack spot removal.
I guess it all depends on the meta. Mine is filled with RDW and heavy removal jund. Also grixis control seems to be picking up some speed online.
Blazed_247 says: July 6, 2010 @ 6:33 am
I stand corrected. Sphinx can be hit with sovereigns for the record
chaos_noise says: July 6, 2010 @ 9:34 am
A well built red deck should already have resiliance to the the Firewalker. Tramplers and fliers get around him where a turn 4-5 Baneslayer is death for red unless they’ve been holding a fist of burn just for it.