Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalker 2012 Ancient Depths Deck Guide Written by jdSaturnAscends ******************************************************************************* TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction The Ancient Depths Mindset What To Remove (And Why) Sample Starting Hands Specific Card Strategies/Combos +Creatures +Non-Creatures Match-Ups +Vampires +Elves +Blue +White +Tezzeret +Chandra +Green +Dragons +Stone ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About me: This is my first FAQ on GameFAQs. I am not a real life magic player, though I did play around 15 years ago. I played the first DotP game on Xbox Live extensively, and I like the simplicity of these games. With a smaller set of cards to deal with, it is easier to analyze the closed system as a whole and understand the strengths and weaknesses of each individual deck. I like that the game is accessible, yet still contains the great Magic: The Gathering gameplay that I loved. My tag, jdSaturnAscends, is also my xbox live gamertag, so feel free to look me up to play or to challenge my assertions about this game. Please PM me for any corrections or suggestions. Ancient Depths is one of my favorite decks in DotP 2012. Like every deck in this game, though, it has strong and weak match-ups. These are my thoughts on how best to play it, along with some tips for each match-up. As a note, if you didn't notice the table of contents, I refer to the decks as a mixture of their in-game name, the color, the planeswalker, or the common internet name. I think (and hope) it is clear which I am referring to :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Ancient Depths Mindset (Or: So You Want To Be A Merman...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First of all, lets make sure we understand the point of this deck. This is what is referred to as a ramp deck, due to the fact that its central focus is to "ramp up" land cards as quickly as possible in order to achieve a land advantage against your opponent. It has many cards that allow you to play more than one land card per turn, allowing you to have as many as 7 mana by the end of round 3 under perfect conditions. This extra mana allows you to play more spells per turn, but more importantly, it allows you to realistically (and relatively quickly) play truly massive cards that many decks would refuse to play. Cards in this deck go as high as 11 uncolored mana to play. I have had over 20 mana in play with this deck, and had single turns where I added over 10 lands. If you like big numbers, this is your deck. The tradeoff with this deck, if played correctly, is a lack of early game aggression or defense. Your opponent will often breathe easy for the first 4 or 5 rounds, knowing you probably won't have much in the way of an attack force, allowing them to also build up resources faster than they otherwise might. On the other hand, they may use that time to play very aggressively and punish your lack of defenses, causing you to lose the game before your diabolical master plan has come to fruition. You also have a big weakness against flying creatures, particularly early, although Ancient Depths is not the worst deck against fliers (at least three others are worse.) Your goal is to take the punishment early, build an unstoppable mana base, and then play one of several game winner cards before you are overwhelmed. These cards have abilities which, under most circumstances, effectively win the game for you regardless of your opponents cards. This can cause the game to almost feel like Solitaire at times, as you either win or lose on the merit of your own cards. Some call it luck, and largely they are right, but you can do a lot to streamline your deck with proper customization choices and also by choosing the right starting hand. This will minimize the luck factor and leave your opponents crushed beneath your mighty webbed feet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What To Remove (And Why) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2x Giant Octopus (Too small, think bigger!) 1x Isleback Spawn (Good card, but there are others in the 6+ range that are much better, i.e. game winners) 1x Tidal Kraken (Much better big creatures available) 1x Compulsive Research (This is not a great draw card for this deck until late game, when you can afford to discard the land card, but by then tidings is much better) 1x Treasure Hunt (Optional. Most of the time, especially late game, it ends up just being a 1-card draw because you have such little mana in your deck by that point. But for two mana, the cost is negligible by then. Earlier in the game, especially if you are mana hungry from a bad start, this can give you multiple mana and a card. It flips the top card of your deck one card at a time until it gets to a non-land card, then you get everything that flipped. Well, if your next 3 cards were lands, you get all of them plus another card for 2 mana. That's the best-case scenario. Any time you play this card and just get one card, you would have been better off not having it in your deck and instead just getting another card) 2x Explosive Vegetation (Skyshroud Claim is better because the forests aren't tapped, effectively lowering it's cost to 2 mana assuming you have 4 out. You also have Ondu Giants at 4 mana and Cultivate at 3, so another 4 mana land producer is redundant) 1-3x Living Destiny (3 is too many. I like to have 1 to pad my health before I bring out an annihilator, but you could take them all out) 2x New Frontiers (Terrible. You already have tons of mana, there's no need to lose that advantage by giving it to the opponent as well, and losing a turn in the process. I promise, your opponent needs mana more than you, and will thank you for wasting yours to give it to him!) 1x Edric, Spymaster of Trest (I used to keep him, but I found that I often don't attack the enemy with this deck until it is clear that I'll win anyway. His mana cost is also low to the point that I'd rather be playing mana generators in those low rounds) 1x Elvish Piper (Optional, see entry in Specific Card Strategies) 1x Yavimaya's Embrace (Optional, see entry in Specific Card Strategies) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample Starting Hands ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I feel like this deck rarely "loses" to an appropriate match-up, it just "fails to win" because of bad draws. Many people say it is more luck-based than other decks, and that might be true. However, to deal with it you have to adjust your criteria for an ideal starting hand. While you normally want 2 or 3 lands and some early turn cards with most decks, with Depths I look for 3 or 4 lands, 2 "guaranteed land" cards, and one big card that will turn the tide from the beating I took playing all that land. You don't just want to get more mana in your hand; you want more mana on the table. I want 1 mana after round one, 3 mana after round two, and 5 or 6 mana after round three. Coilfangs are good, but they are not guaranteed mana. Explore (if you have a spare mana in hand), Cultivate, and Ondu Giant are examples of guaranteed 1 extra mana. If I play them I get an extra mana that turn, period. Coilfang is maybe one mana played, or maybe one card drawn. That's still great, but not ideal early. It is critical with this deck to get more mana on the table than your opponent at all cost in the first 4 rounds, even if that means not playing a creature for a few turns. Once your mana is stacked, your draw cards (Explore, Coilfang, Treasure Hunt, and Tidings) will ensure that you have something to do with all of it. You must also keep in mind that searching your deck for lands means there is less land in your library to get in the way of those big creatures. As a result, they aren't as rare as one might expect. These example starting hands represent a general guideline, and should be adjusted according to your opponent. Fast opponents will require slightly different starting hands. ............................................................................... Decent starting hand: 2x Island, Forest, Explore, Cultivate, Kraken Hatchling, Coilfang Oracle. ............................................................................... Turn 1: Island, Kraken Hatchling (1 mana out, good blocker) Turn 2: Forest, Explore, Island (3 mana out) Turn 3: Cultivate, Island/Forest (from Cultivate, 5 mana out) Turn 4: Island/Forest (drawn by now), Coilfang Oracle, 3 mana left (6-7 mana out, depending on coilfang) In this example, you will start turn 5 with at least 6-7 mana, having also drawn 2 extra cards versus your opponent. If you had drawn another explore/cultivate/coilfang by now (likely), then you played that on turn 4 as well and now start turn 5 with 7-8 mana. Notice that I played Coilfang Oracle after both Explore and Cultivate. Coilfang Oracles are not guaranteed mana, and one more mana in round 2-3 may snowball into 2 extra mana in the following turn. Unless I really need the coilfang to block a decent sized attacker (at least 3 damage), I will wait until guaranteed mana has been used up. Mana advantage is the way this deck wins, and you need it ASAP. The problem with this start is not having a guaranteed way to turn the tide on your opponent once your mana is played. You are at the mercy of the draw, and if you keep drawing lands, you won't have anything to hold off your opponent immediately. ............................................................................... Better starting hand: 2x Forest, 2x Island, Explore, Ondu Giant, Primeval Titan. ............................................................................... Turn 1: Forest (1 mana out) Turn 2: Island, Explore, Forest (3 mana out) Turn 3: Island, Ondu Giant (5 mana out) Turn 4: Forest/Island (drawn), Primeval Titan (8 mana out, getting 2 per turn) Turn 5: Win! (You could play Lorthos on this turn and have a guaranteed victory no matter what the opponent has, as long as he doesn't counter or kill him by next turn. Most Blue players don't save mana for counter on turn 4). In this example, by the start of turn 5 you have played 8 mana and drawn 1 extra card vs your opponent. This assumes you managed to draw one land card in the first four draws (including Explore). If you attack with the Titan next turn before you cast, and you should, then you will have 10 or 11 mana to cast any spell in your deck. You also have a couple of decent blockers, depending on how the game is going. ............................................................................... Awesome starting hand: 2x Forest, Island, Explore, Cultivate, Skyshroud Claim, Rite of Replication ............................................................................... Turn 1: Forest (1 mana out) Turn 2: Island, Explore, Forest (3 mana out) Turn 3: Cultivate, Island/Forest (from Cultivate, 5 mana out) Turn 4: Forest/Island (drawn), Skyshroud Claim, * (8 mana out, 4 untapped) Turn 5: (Start with 9 mana) Rite of Replication with kicker * can be any number of things that would add a land into play. You have 4 mana to use, and you have drawn 4 or 5 times by now. You are very likely to have one of either a Coilfang Oracle, Explore, Cultivate, Ondu Giant, or another Skyshroud by now. This start makes an assumption that in the first 5 draws (including explore) you will have drawn one mana and one of the cards mentioned above. If you don't, then everything just moves to turn 6, but it is very likely to happen as I outlined. By turn 5, the opponent is feeling pretty good because you have no creatures, and has probably been beating on you for a few turns. Then you play Rite of Replication with a kicker on turn 5 and watch as his dreams crumble before his eyes. Make sure you choose a good target for Rite and the game should shift dramatically in your favor. He may quit in turn 5! However, even if there is a hitch in your plans and it doesn't pan out, an unkicked Rite can be used in an emergency to slow down the attacker greatly and give you time to get established. It's a great card to start with. Another great start is the same, or even slightly worse starting hand with an Aether Mutation. Like Rite of Replication, this can turn the tide of the battle, and it only costs 5 mana. It is a great way to slow down your attacker with the bounce, and also get a good number of defenders to give you breathing room to begin your turnaround. While he's wasting most of his mana to recast that creature next turn, you are at 9+ mana and ready to move on to bigger things. This is my favorite hand, and I have had some hilarious round 5 victories. 5 Krovikan Mists is always amusing (especially because they are at least 6/6), but one of my favorites was replicating a Captain of the Watch that he had just cast. You could tell he thought he had the game locked down, as he also had two 2/1 types out. Then suddenly I have 5 Captains, each 7/7 from their ability, along with a stack of 15 Soldier tokens at 6/6 each. The animation alone took forever and was probably soul crushing to see. +++So remember: 3-4 lands, 1-2 land generators, 1 guaranteed turnaround card. And if you can't get both land types, you must have a Forest! (All land generators require forests). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Specific card strategies/combos ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll start at the bottom and mention some thoughts on key cards in this deck. ___________ / Creatures \ ------------- Kraken Hatchling: The only small creature I keep in the deck that doesn't add land. This is a great card for protection while you ramp up mana, and you shouldn't hesitate to sacrifice it to block a 4+ damage attack. Coiling Oracle: This has about a 40% chance of putting land on the table early game (less as the game goes on, as your deck has less mana remaining from your cherry-picking). Otherwise, its simply a card draw. Both outcomes are great, but guaranteed land cards should take priority in the first few rounds unless you need a blocker. These are completely disposable once played, and should be used for chump blocking at the first opportunity. They also make great targets for Polymorph. Ondu Giant: This is a good starting hand card, as long as you also have at least one low-cost generator (Explore preferably, or Cultivate/Coilfang). At 4 mana, you don't want this to be your only starting mana generator. If so, you would only have 5 mana at the end of round 4, barring any generator draws. Not the worst starting hand, but riskier. They are also decent blockers to hold off the tide until you bring in the game winner. Elvish Piper: On paper this looks like an amazing card for this deck, and to some extent it can be. At just 4 mana, you can play this on round 3, and have out any creature in the deck by round 4. The problem is protecting it. Any deck with creature removal, direct damage, or counter spells will never allow you to use this. Even if it gets played, it will die by the next turn. The only chance would be against Green deck, Blue deck if they didn't leave mana for a counter (and don't have a bounce), White if they don't have Arrest or a Lawbringer already out, Tezzeret if he doesn't have Go for the Throat, or another Depths opponent. Otherwise, you are extremely lucky if you get it off, and probably won't get it off later in the game. Still worth having in the deck in case it does work, and also useful to draw counters and similar tactics. But with all your mana you don't really need it. Pulling it from the deck altogether isn't a horrible idea, and I often do. Assault Zeppelid: A 3/3 trampler seems a bit silly for this deck. You can't buff it to really take advantage of trample, and only really want it to block early game. I'd rather have a slightly bigger flier without trample, but still, this card makes up 2 of your only 4 fliers. Play it if you need air defense, otherwise keep pumping out the mana. Never, never, never play this card if you have a mana generator in your hand unless you need it for defense. Even then, consider soaking up the damage if it's small. Early mana pays dividends later (are you getting this message yet?) Primeval Titan: At 6 mana, this is possibly the best card in the deck. Getting this out on turn 4 is devastating. I will almost always attack whenever possible once it is out for the guaranteed 2 mana on the table, even if I know I will lose him. Chances are, he'll take down at least one creature with him, and the 2 mana now is always worth more than 2 mana later. Some opponents will defend with multiple blockers just to kill him, and I'm fine with that. They lose several blockers in the process, and now I have at least 10 mana. Simic Sky Swallower: This is your other flier (2 of 4 in the deck) and it's a bruiser. Trample on a 6/6 makes much more sense, and if things don't go the easy route, these guys can win games. Shroud is huge, especially against blue (no bounce), white (no arrest), and Black/Elves (no removal). You still lose them to non-targeted effects like Dispense Justice, so be careful attacking a metalcrafted Tezzeret. In the end, though, I typically use them as a blocker while I work on the game winner. Lorthos, The Tidemaker: This is the game winner king. More than either of your annihilator cards by far, and underrated in that respect. Give me a choice to play this or one of them, I take this 9 times out of 10. The ability on this card taps 8 permanents while attacking, and they do not untap next turn. I usually only target the dangerous enemy creatures, making sure I tap all or most of their mana. I often find that I can tap everything. If they still have some smaller creatures left untapped, get the land first and make sure to leave blockers. Only Lorthos needs to attack (not against Tezzeret with white in the deck, obviously), and as long as he is locked down, you WILL win. You don't need more attackers, just take as many turns as you need attacking with only Lorthos. They will get their turn, maybe play a land card, and have nothing to do. There is no 1 mana card in this game that will stop Lorthos. You will attack with Lorthos turn after turn, tapping 8 mana, and locking down your opponent while he watches from a puddle of tears. *Special note: Please make sure not to do anything but tap 8 mana and attack with Lorthos. You don't need to do anything else to win, and you might use up your mana accidentally and not have 8 to attack with. If you do this, you deserve to lose. Feel free to do whatever you want in main phase 2 after the attack, not that it matters. Unless the opponent has a ton of dangerous creatures and/or a ton of lands, he cannot escape the trap. Most surrender when he hits the table or on the first attack. Inkwell Leviathan: While I wouldn't call him a game winner, he is certainly very close to one. I wouldn't have him in the deck, though, if it weren't for one thing: shroud. Having shroud on a creature this big is amazing. He will be the only huge creature you have that cannot be removed with typical means. With 11 toughness, he can block just about anything they throw at you on the ground. He lacks the "I WIN" factor that the game winners have, but he certainly gets the job done. He is also great for a match-up against Blue or Tezzeret, where he can use his islandwalk to devastating effect. Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: Of the 3 game winners, he's the weakest. That's like being the "little guy" in an iron man competition. He's brutal. Drawing 4 cards on casting is gravy, and by the time you can play him you may need it. 12/12 is the most power and defense in this deck, but that's not what wins games. The real strength is Annihilator 4. Like Lorthos, but to a lesser degree, once you start attacking with this guy you are probably going to win. The opponent gets to choose which 4 cards to sacrifice, but its not like it really matters much. It's four cards every time he attacks. Usually they start dipping into mana even on the first attack, and you know you've won when they have 3 mana and you have 20. If he dies, he goes back into the library. With 10-20+ mana on the table and all the draw in this deck, you'll probably get him back. Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre: The 2nd best of the 3 game winners, and contender for the best due to being indestructible. Lorthos can be killed through removal cards in the turn before you attack, but this guy cannot. Their only hope against him is to incapacitate him (i.e., Arrest for white deck) or to bounce/counter him (Blue). Any other effect that mentions "destroy" won't work. Otherwise, he is very similar to Kozilek. His on-cast ability is better in my opinion, as you immediately destroy a permanent, this one of YOUR choosing. Take out that pesky Lawbringer, Lord of the Unreal, or whatever may be trouble before the fun even begins. You can also use him as a creature removal card by playing him and bouncing him back with Aether Mutation, casting him repeatedly as needed and getting rid of targets of your choosing. You get 10 token 1/1 blockers each time, too. ______________________ / Non-Creature Spells: \ ------------------------ Explore: My favorite mana generator under 4 mana cost. This is one guaranteed mana on the table as long as you have an extra in your hand, and maybe even if you don't because you also get to draw a card. For 2 mana, this card is a real bargain. I always want one of these in a starting hand. 2 in a starting hand is also good, but it can be partially wasted if you don't have a mana in your hand and you didn't draw one. I only want 2 Explores starting if I also have 4 lands, and hope that I draw a land before round 3. This is less than ideal. I try not to use Explore without a mana in hand to play, but bad starts can make this a necessity, so pray for a land on that free draw. Cultivate: Also a great generator, though the 3 mana cost means you can't play it on turn 2 like Explore. I would rather have this and Explore than 2 Explores in a starting hand, as it gives you an extra mana on the table and an extra in hand. In later rounds, you may find yourself holding both. Cultivate will give you the extra mana you need to play with Explore. Skyshroud Claim: The best, most mana-efficient land generator in the deck. This should be played on round 3 every time if possible. It costs 4 mana, but the 2 forests it adds come into play untapped, so the effect is like it only costs 2. You can even use those two to cast an Explore, adding a 4th mana in one turn. By the end of round 3, you can have 7 mana on the table while your opponent has 3. Polymorph: This is a roll of the dice, plain and simple. Use it on Coilfang Oracles or 1/1 tokens from Aether Mutation, and cross your fingers that you get a game winner. Even if you don't, anything you get will be an upgrade. I've even had a Coilfang turn into another Coilfang, but even this isn't that bad, because you still get that extra card. One thing to watch though is not being tempted to cast this early. Yes, you have 5 mana on round 3 and it would be hilarious to pull an annihilator out of the hat (I've done it plenty of times), but there's also a high chance you won't, and you will have wasted turn 3 instead of pumping out another extra land or two. This is another reason why people say this deck is riskier, or more like gambling. Don't gamble, but stick to what will definitely work. Once you have more mana and you are in a comfortable position, then you can use it. The only way I would play Polymorph early is if I had a bad draw and I don't have any way to generate more land. This could very well save you. Another use for this card, though less advisable given all the excellent creatures you have, is to use it offensively as creature removal. If an opponent has a nasty, one-off rare creature that you want to reroll into (hopefully) a chumpy 1/1, go for it. There are better options, but sometimes you have to be flexible. Levitation: If you happen to be playing against a flying deck, the odds are against you. This is the card that evens the odds. There isn't much else to say. Feel free to play this card whenever you have spare mana with nothing to use it on even if you don't need it right away, unless you are playing against Elves. For some reason, that deck seems to have one of the only enchantment removal cards in the game. Of course, you don't need fliers against the Elves. Living Destiny: I tend to leave one of these in the deck, but I can't recall too many games where it really made a big difference. This deck is all about surviving until you win. When you win, it often has little to do with what the opponent is doing, but rather hinges on the fact that you just pressed the giant red button that says "I WIN." I find that this usually happens when I am around 10-15 life. I have won plenty of games with 1 or 2 life and never really felt like I was at risk of losing, because I knew what was in my hand, how many turns it would take to work, and that there was nothing my opponent could do to stop it. Well, Living Destiny can buy you a little more time to hit that button if the cards aren't lining up right, or if the opponent is super fast and had a really good draw. It requires that you have this card, as well as one of your 8+ cost creatures to be worth the spot in your deck. You certainly shouldn't need to bail yourself out more than once. Aether Mutation: This is a great card for this deck. For just 5 mana, you can bounce an enemy creature and get a handful of chump blockers. This serves to slow down the enemy by forcing him to recast the creature on a following turn, delaying an attack or a troublesome ability, and also sets up more chump blockers to further slow his assault. All of this buys you more time to finish ramping to play a game winner. Other than Mind Control and annihilator effects, this is the closest thing to creature removal you have. Tidings: Not much to say here. I wouldn't want it in a starting hand, unless the other 6 were a perfect land generating setup. Then I could play this with my overfilled mana to get cards I can use with it. Mid to late game you are probably going to be itching for one of these, if you haven't already won. Mind Control: Very useful in those games where things aren't going right, and your land generation conked out around 5 or 6 mana for some reason. With this card, you can turn a fight around in a hurry. Grab their big bruiser and use him as a defender, or even better, take out their key creature like Lord of the Unreal or other cornerstone and use it yourself. The smaller but critical cards for opponents are typically best used as chump blockers and killed off before they can manage to get it back through various means. This is just one more stall tactic to hold off the enemy until you win through your conventional means. Yavimaya's Embrace: This is an 8 mana mind control that adds +3/+3 and trample. I sometimes feel like I'd rather just have another Mind Control, because I usually need Mind Control for emergencies before my mana is really stacked. Still, even when you have 8 mana and big creatures, the enemy can have problematic creatures that this deals with. Creature removal options are low in this deck, so I feel you need to take every option you get. This is a tide turning card, and works great in a starting hand if everything else is a perfect mana generating setup. You can play this on turn 4 or 5 and really turn the game around. Rite of Replication: This is the only game winner that isn't a creature, but boy is it one. Unless it's an emergency, only use this with the full 9 mana cost. Most opponents will concede immediately. I feel the best target in your deck (if you followed my removal suggestions) is the Primeval Titan, which adds 10 lands immediately, then 12 every time your 6 guys attack. You will be out of land in your library after 1 attack most likely, and have 20+ mana at your disposal. Not that you need it; your opponent already quit. If he didn't, feel free to use two tidings back to back, or throw down two annihilators and/or Lorthos in the same turn to seal the deal. The other option, which is sometimes more attractive, is to copy something the enemy has. Just remember you don't get any counters, enchantments, or equipment, just the raw card as if it was just cast. You do get global effects, though, so feel free to steal Krovikan Mists for five of those lovely */* against Blue. *Special Note: Do not use Rite of Replication on anything with "Legendary" in the type unless it belongs to your opponent. Notably, this includes Lorthos, Krozilek, and Ulamog. If more than one Legendary with the same name is on the battlefield, all of them are sent to the graveyard. In the case of Krozilek and Ulamog, they go back to your library. Feel free to use it as a creature removal option against opponents, just don't kick it. If you are in a mirror match and your opponent has one out, feel free to copy his, sending it to his library, then play your own. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Match-Ups ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- __________ / Vampires \ ------------ This can a tough match-up because vampires are somewhat fast, they have some decent creature removal, and they have relatively fast and strong fliers. Against this deck, you really only have 2 flying defenders you can count on because he will kill your Zeppelids with no problem. You will either die to a mass of flying vampires and bats, or he will use a lot of creature removal and his strong early-game ground units to overpower you before you can win around turn 7 or 8. The key to beating Vampires is to use his army against him and harrass him. This means Mind Control, Yavimaya's, and Rite of Replication are golden. If you can grab some great flyers from him, you will probably win. Good targets to steal are Nighthawks, any flyer with 4/4 or higher, and anything with lifesteal. If you get off a 9 point Rite of Replication on a Nighthawk, he will have a very hard time. Aether Mutation is also great, as you can bounce back his bigger creatures while you hold out for one of the "steal" cards mentioned above, getting lots of chump defenders in the process. He will spend most of his mana recasting it, but you have plenty of mana to get a lot done even on the same turn. Good starting cards to look for are the Mind Control types above. Yavimaya would be lower on the list, as you may need to steal something faster than you can get 8 mana. Rite of Replication is your best starting card, despite its cost of 9 mana to cast kicked, because once you cast it on a lifetap creature, you will be able to recover quickly. The other advantage of Rite is the fact that it gives you 5 targets for his creature removal. The Mind Control cards tend to get taken out by creature removal immediately, which isn't all bad because he still loses that creature, but its less than ideal. I used to say that this was the hardest match-up for Depths, but after some changes to my deck (keeping all Aether Mutations and Yavimaya) and playing towards those cards, I feel this is a balanced match-up that actually favors Depths the longer the game lasts. _______ / Elves \ --------- Hardest match-up hands-down. Like Vampires with even stronger, faster ground forces. They have the creature removal to get rid of your chump blockers, killing you while you are ramping up mana. You don't need to worry about fliers this time, but without good creature removal, Depths is weak against their geometric growth. The synergy between the elves often means the more there are, the stronger they are, and it quickly overwhelms you before you can win. They also have a card worth mentioning: Maelstrom Pulse. This is the Anti-Rite of Replication, and they even get 2 of them. You copy 5 of something, they destroy all 6 for just three mana (make sure you copied their creature, so it hurts them as well). You will want to try to Mind Control their more important creatures. Like we did against Vampires, this will give them more targets for their creature removal and acts like a creature removal against their big synergy units. Just be aware that they have an Elven Lyrist that can pay 1 mana and sacrifice itself to destroy an enchantment, which would be your Mind Control and would return the stolen creature. It may be useful to draw out that one-time effect with a levitate, as Mind Control will be more important, or kill the Lyrist if he is foolish enough to attack with him. Good Mind Control targets are: Heedless One, Imperious Prefect, Jagged-Scar Archers, Joraga Warcaller, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, or whatever is eating you alive. This is a really tough match-up. They have multiple cheap counters for most of your best cards. At least if you lose, it will be over fast. * Special Note: I find that a lot of people switch to this deck when they see I am playing Depths, as a blatant attempt to match my weakness. If you want to fight fire with fire, literally, switch to Chandra. Chandra dominates the Elves because she just snipes out those problematic guys and leaves them with a handful of crummy 1/1 and 2/1 types. Pyroclasm and Flame Wave are great cards here. Switch over if you are afraid of the challenge. ______ / Blue \ -------- I see a lot of people (fans of Jace, mostly) saying that Blue beats Depths. I won't disagree that it could beat Depths (it's really fairly even), but in no way is blue a hard counter for depths. One of blue's most critical cards is Lord of the Unreal, which gives all of their illusions (usually about half of their creatures) +1/+1 and makes them untargetable. To be sure, this is problematic for most decks. However, Depths doesn't have a whole lot of targetable effects anyway. Sure, this will keep Lorthos from hitting the illusions, so just go for his mana and his other creatures. It also doesn't stop your annihilators, who force the opponent to destroy 4 creatures each time they attack (since he has to choose them, you aren't targeting them). It doesn't stop you from Replicating Krovikan Mists, which are not illusions. And most importantly, he is only a 2/2 creature with no protection himself, so there are plenty of opportunities to deal with him. Aether Mutation will bounce him, giving you two chump blockers, then you attack with Lorthos and freeze his mana before he can resummon, along with any of the now-targetable illusions you particularly don't like. You can also steal him and replicate 5 good illusions to beat him at his own game. The point is that you have ways of dealing with it, and it is only 2 cards in his deck. The real threat comes when Blue gets an awesome start, throws down Lord of the Unreal early along with 2 illusions, and proceeds to hit you for 7+ damage per turn. Like always, any deck that gets a perfect start and can do damage fast will beat you, but this doesn't always happen. Be aware of counterspells from blue, especially if he left 2 mana untapped after his turn. While some players do this even without a counter in their hand for psychological reasons, most would rather use that two mana to do something useful if they don't have a counter up. If possible, try to get your big game winners out when he has only one or no lands untapped. Since you have a huge land advantage, you should be able to get out a big threat card before he starts saving mana for a counter spell. And if he lets you get your Piper out without bouncing it next turn, you are home free and can throw out whatever creature you want. Of course, remember that Inkwell Leviathan is Blue's worst nightmare. He can't bounce him, he can't steal him, and he gets to islandwalk all day. Get him out with a Piper and he can't even be countered. If you have surplus mana, like say 12+, feel free to use Piper as a draw for his counter spell. He will take the bait, leaving you free to actually cast a game winner. If he doesn't counter it, then you can either risk casting your big creature, or wait until next turn to use the piper and bring it in. He may bounce it in the mean time, in which case you bait him again. His counters and bounces are more limited than the spells he wants to counter or bounce, and you have more card draw and more mana at your disposal, so you can play that game all day. Countered annihilators go back into your deck as well, so keep that in mind. It's not the end of the world. _______ / White \ --------- White can also be a tough matchup for Depths. They are fast, but because they get strength from equipment, creature removal is less effective against them. The only "removal" card they have is Arrest, which isn't much of an issue for your game winners, but it can cripple you early if they get it at the start. If/when he Arrests one of your 3 big legendaries, I suggest one of two things. One option is to Aether Mutation your own creature, bouncing it to your hand and giving you 8-12 token blockers. In the case of the annihilators, you get the added benefit of their on-cast ability all over again when you replay them, possibly in the same turn due to your mana. The other, less attractive option, is to Rite of Replication your legendary (if it is an annihilator) so it "dies" and goes back to the library where you can grab it and resummon it. This would be a very situational use, but it is something to consider. Save your Mind Control for the beefy creature with 2-3 artifacts equipped. You will get the artifacts for that turn, which he will take back next turn, but he can't use them to block. Watch out for his Kitesail Apprentices, who will fly when equipped, by making sure you get out something to block air if possible. One in your starting hand would be good insurance, preferrably a Sky Swallower. White only wins the same way Blue typically does, with a strong early rush from a good starting hand and good draw. Sometimes they just get all the right cards early and it beats you before you can handle it. __________ / Tezzeret \ ------------ Not an easy matchup per se, but one you should win more times than not. Tezzeret was the first deck I unlocked and I wanted to like it. It's not that bad, but it won't beat Depths most of the time. It wants to be a themed synergy deck like Elves or Vampires, but it doesn't ever get there. It isn't fast enough or strong enough to be a big threat to you before you win. The only thing worth special mention is Dispense Justice, which will force you to destroy 1 (2 with metalcraft) attacking creatures of your choice. Because of this, I do not suggest attacking with Lorthos to lock him down without 1-2 additional attackers unless you can tap all of his mana. If you can tap all of his mana, you are free to leave blockers for his chumps and win the game as usual. Tezzeret also has some fliers, so a starting flier in your hand may not be a bad idea, but it's not anything to worry too much over. Inkwell Leviathan, again, makes him hurt. Just remember that he can be destroyed by Dispense Justice when attacking, so watch his mana and use chump attackers if needed to pad him. _________ / Chandra \ ----------- I love Chandra, as previously mentioned, because she is great against those decks that Depths is weak against. Fortunately, Chandra isn't great against Depths (Rock, Paper, Scissors). It isn't an easy fight for her, but if Chandra is going to win, it has to happen early. Otherwise, there is virtually no chance outside of a pumped up Inferno/Banefire (there is one of each in the deck, but fortunately for us, Chandra's draw ability sucks). Chandra is also weak against flying, being that she has exactly two in the deck (One 2/2 flier and one 5/5). While Depths is weak in that area, four is better than two, especially when we can get to it quickly with land and card draw. Starting with a Skyswallower in hand may be a good idea, as Zeppelids are just one volcanic hammer to kill. Living Destiny really shines here, as the healing may be required to prevent a lucky-draw 8+ damage Inferno from ending the game. Just make sure to block everything even if you lose it, because if you don't she will certainly nuke it later anyway. Once your big dogs come out to play, Chandra loses. You do need to watch out for Fire Servant, which doubles the damage of all red instants and sorceries. This can cost you the game in a hurry, so Aether him or steal him before she has a chance to take advantage of it. This and the Flameblast Dragon are the two targets you should be most concerned about stealing or mutating. _______ / Green \ --------- Green has no fliers to worry about, and it isn't exceptionally fast. Like depths, it tries to get out big creatures and has some land ramping, but it is worse than depths on both counts. On the outside chance that it gets out one of its 7+ mana cost creatures, you will have well over 10 mana and several means of dealing with it, including Aether Mutation and Mind Control. But most of the time you will win before that happens, or around the same time. If green is going to win, it will be obvious around turn 7 or 8 with a good draw on an aggressive early push, probably accompanied by the classic Overrun (all creatures get +3/+3 and trample). Watch your opponent, and if he is getting out a big army quickly, play a bit more defensively, but otherwise keep pumping that land out with knowledge that you'll play a game winner before he can overwhelm you. Always remember that he has ways of pumping up attackers instantly, so when he makes suspicious attacks that don't make sense, check to see if he has untapped mana. Giant Growth gives a target +3/+3 for just one mana, so be careful. _________ / Dragons \ ----------- I have been fairly even against Dragons. If he is able to get out a decent airforce early-mid game, you will have a hard time. Every time I lost it was to big fliers. If you can Mind Control one of them, you should be fine. His direct damage isn't much of a threat to Depths. However, a more serious problem is his ability to swarm you with Dragon Fodder. These 1/1 tokens pile up and overwhelm your chump defenders early on, then get eaten by his Devouring Dragon. It gets +1/+1 for each of them, AND does 2x that much damage to you or a creature (it will probably be you). It is a serious threat, and he can play it as early as turn 5. There are 3 dragon fodders in the deck (2 tokens each), and he would need a perfect draw to eat all 6 on turn 5, but that would give him a 10/10 flier and do 6 damage to you or a creature. If that happens in turn 5 or 6, you probably aren't going to win short of a Mind Control or Aether Mutation. Luckily it won't happen very often. _______ / Stone \ --------- I believe you'll win most of the time, but like always luck is a factor and he is capable of killing you very quickly with the right draw. Treat it like a Chandra with fewer direct damage spells and stronger creatures, and make sure to finish the game as quickly as possible. He has several direct damage spells and offensive boosting spells where X is the number of mountains he controls. This isn't that scary, until round 10+ when X gets pretty big. But even worse than Chandra, he has zero land or card draw. He will be either stuck at 0-1 cards in hand all game, or he'll be mana hungry, or both. He does have a couple fliers, one of which is a scary 5/5. His biggest trump card versus Depths is Act of Treason (2x), which for only 3 mana steals a creature from you and gives it haste, so he can use it immediately. You get it back after his turn. If he hits one of your annihilators with this after you summon it, this could cost you the game. If that happens, hopefully you have enough mana to sacrifice to not lose any creatures except your blocker, as you usually don't have any to spare. At only three mana, he can certainly use this anytime you can play one of your annihilators, and instantly win the game himself. It comes down to luck, basically. Lorthos wouldn't be as much of a threat since he probably can't pay the 8 mana cost for the effect (after already paying 3). You would chump block it and then win the next turn. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The End - Good Luck! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (C) 2011 jdSaturnAscends