Initial Technology – Hunting for Treasure in Standard

January 24, 2010 |

lsv

Hunting for Treasure in Standard

I would expect that most of you have seen Treasure Hunt by now, since it was spoiled on Friday by BDM, and is becoming one of the most talked about cards in Worldwake. For those of you who haven't, take a look:

There are many opinions surrounding this card, and undoubtedly some pretty high expectations. Today, instead of talking about all of the new and interesting cards that have been spoiled, I want to focus on this one, for a few reasons. The biggest is that I will be doing a full set review of Worldwake (just like I did for Zendikar), so repeating myself in a week seem gratuitous, but I also want to try and present a balanced view of Treasure Hunt.

My initial reaction, which seems that many shared, was that this card looked unbelievable. Why, you could draw two, three, four, even five cards, and all that you needed for that to happen was a little clump of lands! Of course, the reality isn't quite so cheery. I don't want to derail this article with a math discussion, but here are the approximate values you can expect out of Treasure Hunt, given that you play 26 land and haven't manipulated your library (thanks to Phil Yam's post on my Facebook thread about Treasure Hunt):

1 card: 56.7%
2 cards: 24.6%
3 cards: 10.6%
4 cards: 4.6%
5 cards: 2.0%
6 cards: 0.9%

EV = 1.7

So, Treasure Hunt isn't secretly Tidings. What is it, then, and why is everyone so excited? Much like Matt Sperling said in his last article, card evaluation is all about context. In this case, looking at the draw spells we currently have available in Standard provides many clues as to why I am looking forward to hunting for treasure. In the last two control decks I have played with, the card draw spells used are as follows:

Divination (Grixis and UWR)
Courier's Capsule (Grixis)
Jace Beleren (UWR)
Mind Spring (UWR)
Cruel Ultimatum (Grixis)

Treasure Hunt clearly isn't vying for the slots of Mind Spring or Cruel, so we can eliminate those. That pretty much leaves us with a draw 2 for three mana, a draw 2 for four mana (that can be paid in installments), and an enormous Blightning target. When you realize that I played Divination, a card that was pretty unplayable in Champions Block Limited of all formats, the hype over Treasure Hunt makes more sense. We aren't working with Fact or Fiction, or even Concentrate or Careful Consideration here. When the best of our options includes Counsel of the Soratami, it doesn't take much to top that. The whole reason that decks like these need card draw is so that they can hit their land drops and cast powerful spells like Mind Spring, Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Sorin Markov, and of course, Cruel Ultimatum. At 1.7 cards per casting, all but one of which will be land, it seems to me that Treasure Hunt will do the job quite adequately. Costing two mana is also a big deal, since part of the reason that Courier's Capsule has even seen play at all is the option to play it plus leave a counter up on turn four. Treasure Hunt doesn't even require an additional investment, which is good since most of the time you end up having to cast that counter on turn four, which delays your card drawing.

So, is Treasure Hunt only good because our other options are so paltry?

A spell for U1 that flat-out drew two cards would clearly be broken, and Treasure Hunt is honestly not that far from that supposed card. The difference is definitely enough that Treasure Hunt isn't broken, but it certainly is good.

So far, we have only looked at Treasure Hunt from the perspective of doing nothing to enable it. The figure of 1.7 cards per Hunt is assuming that it is just straight up cast, so with just a little bit of work we can certainly increase that number by a significant amount. Luckily, there are two cards in Worldwake that fit the bill perfectly:

From MTGSalvation:

Halimar Depths
Land
Halimar Depths enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
When Halimar Depths enters the battlefield, look at the top three cards of your library and put them back in any order.

And of course, Jace:

Turn 1 Halimar Depths, turn 2 Treasure Hunt seems like a pretty obvious combo, and a potent one. Even if it just makes Treasure Hunt into a reliable draw 2, that alone is pretty exciting. All of a sudden these clunky control decks just got much more streamlined, and at very little cost. Sure, Grixis might have some trouble incorporating more enters-the-battlefield-tapped lands, but it can manage, and UWR definitely can accommodate a playset of Depths without incident. Voila, at the cost of 4 more EBT lands, and the replacement of Divination with Treasure Hunt, we have a good start to any Blue-based control deck. Now factor in Jace's Brainstorm ability, and we are really getting somewhere.

I'm not saying that Jace plus Treasure Hunt is a reliable draw engine, since the lifespan of Planeswalkers is usually pretty short, and if Jace survives by himself you are probably winning. However, the additional value here is undeniable, and certainly shouldn't be overlooked. Once you start playing so many ways to maximize your Treasure Hunts, you have to give serious thought to slowrolling them and lands in anticipation, and Jace is one of those ways. Holding a Hunt because you know you are Jacing in a few turns can easily draw you two extra cards minimum if you also keep two lands to put back. Likewise, if you wait until turn three to play Depths and Hunt in the same turn, you don't have that pesky draw step in between.

Here is a quick stab at what such a deck might look like:

3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
4 Wall of Denial

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Ajani Vengeant
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Treasure Hunt
3 Essence Scatter
2 Earthquake
3 Double Negative
2 Path to Exile
2 Negate
2 Mysteries of the Deep

4 Halimar Depths
1 Celestial Colonnade
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Arid Mesa
2 Mountain
4 Plains
3 Island

Astute readers (and probably not-so-astute ones) might notice the similarities between this and the UWR deck I played a few weeks ago. It is essentially the same, plus a few new cards and some updates that take into account how I think Standard has changed. I don't like the maindeck Spreading Seas or Flashfreezes any more, so Negate and Essence Scatter get the nod. Mysteries of the Deep also replaces Mind Spring, which makes the extra counterspells more attractive. I think this is a good starting point, since it has a lot of things going for it:

Wall of Denial and Sphinx of Jwar Isle protect Jace, which in turn makes your Treasure Hunts better.

Jace and Halimar Depths maximize your Treasure Hunts, which help you make all your land drops.

Halimar Depths plus fetchlands adds additional draw-smoothing power.

Mysteries of the Deep + eight fetchlands let you keep mana up for your eight counterspells.

Continuing the Hunt"¦

The relatively low cost of Halimar Depths and Treasure Hunt, and the utility Jace has by himself, all lead me to believe that these cards will show up in many Standard decklists. One of the hallmarks of powerful cards is that they are powerful without outside help, which makes them good almost any time you draw them. The less work a card takes, the better, and all of the cards I just mentioned are pretty self-sufficient. The fact that they work really well together is a huge upside, but crucially isn't needed to make them good most of the time. UWR may not be the best shell, or even a good one, but something like that is where I would start my hunt (that, and Grixis, which will take a little more work, since it can't protect Jace as well and doesn't play as many fetchlands). Until we have the rest of the set, happy hunting!

LSV

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About This Author

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, although Conley Woods came close to matching that during Worlds 2011. Luis' other accomplishments include a win at Pro Tour Berlin 2008,...