Gavony Township - A Retrospective

Among the iconic and format-warping cards of Innistrad, one has always stood out to me as under-appreciated relative to its power and influence.

Gavony Township was nothing short of revolutionary for GWx creature decks. Typically lacking card draw and/or card selection, such decks are prone to flooding out on mana dorks and lands. Township elegantly solves this problem as both a mana sink and threat enabler all with an extremely low deckbuilding cost. As of this moment, a decade after Innistrad's release, Township remains uniquely effective in this role and its difficult to imagine a better alternative will be printed.

Let's examine this card through the lens of some of the decks that have utilized it over the years.

Whether by design at Wizards or by coincidence, this Standard deck developed shortly after Township's printing and exemplified many of its qualities.  

Township Tokens, GP Kuala Lumpur, 3/25/12
Creature Spells (23) 4x Avacyn's Pilgrim 4x Birds of Paradise 4x Strangleroot Geist 4x Mirran Crusader 2x Blade Splicer 4x Hero of Bladehold 1x Geist-Honored Monk	Noncreature Spells (13) 2x Dismember 2x Mortarpod 2x Sword of War and Peace 3x Oblivion Ring 3x Garruk Relentless 1x Elspeth Tirel
Lands (24) 4x Razorverge Thicket 4x Sunpetal Grove 8x Forest 4x Plains 4x Gavony Township	SB: 2x Thrun, the Last Troll SB: 2x Ray of Revelation SB: 2x Celestial Purge SB: 2x Garruk, Primal Hunter SB: 2x Sword of Feast and Famine SB: 1x Sword of War and Peace SB: 1x Naturalize SB: 1x Fiend Hunter SB: 1x Oblivion Ring SB: 1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

 

Township mitigates the downside of playing eight mana dorks to accelerate into more powerful plays. We see the employment of creatures that scale well with extra counters like Blade Splicer and Mirran Crusader (note the "non-bo" with Strangleroot Geist however 😅). The many token-producing planeswalkers also pair nicely with Township. Its no wonder this archetype often played the full playset of Townships and was called "Township Tokens". 

Our next deck is from the next format of Township's residence in Standard.

GW Humans, GP Charleston, 11/17/12
Creature Spells (35) 4x Avacyn's Pilgrim 4x Champion of the Parish 4x Doomed Traveler 4x Judge's Familiar 4x Mayor of Avabruck 4x Knight of Glory 4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben 3x Fencing Ace 3x Silverblade Paladin 1x Sublime Archangel	Noncreature Spells (5) 4x Rancor 1x Selesnya Charm
Lands (20) 4x Temple Garden 4x Sunpetal Grove 3x Cavern of Souls 3x Forest 5x Plains 1x Gavony Township	SB: 4x Dryad Militant SB: 2x Elite Inquisitor SB: 2x Fiend Hunter SB: 2x Faith's Shield SB: 2x Sundering Growth SB: 2x Nevermore SB: 1x Selesnya Charm

 

 

This is an aggressive deck that isn't interested in drawing out games to the point where Township pulls its weight, but playing one copy can still be justified. 

Birthing Pod was considered one of the best Modern decks throughout 2013 and 2014. The raw power and relentless consistency of this archetype eventually doomed Pod to the Modern banlist in early 2015.

 

Melira Pod, GP Richmond, 3/9/14
Creature Spells (28) 4x Birds of Paradise 3x Noble Hierarch 1x Viscera Seer 3x Voice of Resurgence 1x Wall of Roots 1x Qasali Pridemage 1x Scavenging Ooze 1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1x Spellskite 4x Kitchen Finks 1x Eternal Witness 1x Orzhov Pontiff 2x Murderous Redcap 1x Ranger of Eos 1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence 1x Shriekmaw 1x Reveillark	Noncreature Spells (9) 2x Abrupt Decay 3x Chord of Calling 4x Birthing Pod
Lands (23) 4x Verdant Catacombs 4x Misty Rainforest 2x Overgrown Tomb 1x Temple Garden 1x Godless Shrine 3x Forest 1x Swamp 3x Razorverge Thicket 1x Woodland Cemetery 3x Gavony Township	SB: 4x Thoughtseize SB: 2x Dismember  SB: 1x Slaughter Pact SB: 1x Scavenging Ooze SB: 1x Ethersworn Canonist SB: 1x Kataki, War's Wage SB: 1x Harmonic Sliver SB: 1x Sin Collector SB: 1x Obstinate Baloth SB: 1x Thrun, the Last Troll SB: 1x Entomber Exarch

 

While Pod's flashiest aspects - infinite combos and toolbox creatures - received the most attention, a significant part of its power resided in its ability to play a "normal" game of Magic when all else failed. This was made possible by Gavony Township, which won Pod countless games on the back of a motley crew of creatures grown to a formidable size.

In the wake of Pod's banning, a new archetype emerged that elevated Pod's beatdown plan from backup to star of the show. 

Podless Pod, Pro Tour Fate Reforged, 2/8/15
Creature Spells (27) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Birds of Paradise 4x Voice of Resurgence 2x Qasali Pridemage 3x Loxodon Smiter 3x Kitchen Finks 4x Siege Rhino 3x Wilt-Leaf Liege	Noncreature Spells (10) 4x Path to Exile 2x Thoughtseize 4x Lingering Souls
Lands (23) 4x Windswept Heath 4x Verdant Catacombs 1x Marsh Flats 1x Temple Garden 1x Overgrown Tomb 1x Godless Shrine 3x Forest 1x Plains 1x Swamp 3x Razorverge Thicket 3x Gavony Township	SB: 2x Thoughtseize SB: 2x Fracturing Gust SB: 2x Chalice of the Void SB: 2x Sword of War and Peace SB: 1x Slaughter Pact SB: 1x Zealous Persecution SB: 1x Relic of Progenitus SB: 1x Stony Silence SB: 1x Rule of Law SB: 1x Leyline of Sanctity SB: 1x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes

  

This deck, called "Podless Pod" and "Liege Rhino" among other names, could be seen as the evolution of our first example adapted to the Modern format.

Fast-forwarding a few years, our final example is a new breed of combo deck.

 

Heliod Life, MTGO Event, 3/14/21
Creature Spells (29) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Birds of Paradise 4x Conclave Mentor 4x Spike Feeder 4x Skycleave Apparition 4x Heliod, Sun-Crowned 2x Ranger-Captain of Eos 2x Archangel of Thune 1x Walking Ballista	Noncreature Spells (4) 4x Collected Company
Lands (23) 4x Windswept Heath 2x Misty Rainforest 2x Prismatic Vista 2x Temple Garden 2x Forest 2x Plains 4x Horizon Canopy 3x Razorverge Thicket 2x Gavony Township	SB: 4x Path to Exile SB: 3x Damping Sphere  SB: 2x Selfless Spirit SB: 2x Wheel of Sun and Moon   SB: 1x Burrenton Forge-Tender SB: 1x Giant Killer SB: 1x Emeria Archon SB: 1x Veil of Summer

 

With combo pieces based on +1/+1 counters like Spike Feeder and Walking Ballista, Township takes on an interesting role in this deck as a combo enabler and can prove to be a huge nuisance for opposing damage-based interaction.

Despite its success in Standard and Modern, Township has had no presence in Legacy. The range of decks that could play it is narrow, competition with other utility lands is high, and the texture of the format makes it irrelevant in the vast majority of games.

I hope you enjoyed this little reflection on Gavony Township - a card I know I will continue playing for years to come.

DECK: Modern RG Ramp (with Inferno Titan!) 5/31/19

Here is my latest Modern Gxx pile of cards:

Maindeck

Sideboard

I played this at FNM last night and went 3-1.

Round 1: UB Faeries, W (2-0)
Round 2: The Rock, W (2-1)
Round 3: UWR Control, L (1-2)
Round 4: Dredge, W (2-1)

The list was inspired by this Naya deck I was playing a few months ago. The Angels honestly didn't feel that great, so I decided to try Inferno Titan at the top end of a similar shell instead. The deck was a ton of fun and didn't seem awful so I'll probably play it a bit more with some adjustments. 

DECK: Modern GW Aggro, 2/22/19

My latest Modern experiment has been this GW Aggro/Midrange pile. Basically, the point of the deck is to play Hero of Bladehold. This is the list as of my 2/22/19 FNM:

Maindeck

Sideboard

imgur link

Its quite similar to a "Little Kid" -style Junk deck, basically replacing Lingering Souls with Kitchen Finks, and Siege Rhino/Wilt-Leaf Liege with Hero/Elspeth.

Honestly, losing Rhino & Souls is a big deal due to the reach and resiliency they bring to a GW creature deck. Losing access to other Black cards such as Thoughtseize and Assassin's Trophy limits the dimensions of interaction available as well.

The primary upside of not splashing Black is a smoother, less painful manabase, which is perennially relevant in Modern - but this likely doesn't outweigh its downside.

This is how my rounds went at the FNM:

Round 1: Lantern Contol (L 1-2)
Round 2: UR Phoenix (W 2-0)
Round 3: Jund (W 2-0)
Round 4: Grixis Shadow (W 2-1)
Round 5: UR Phoenix (W 2-0)

Hero of Bladehold killed the opponent in six games over the course of the evening. I did not lose a game in which I untapped with a Hero. All is right with the world.

DECK: Modern Big Naya, 2/15/19

The Modern metagame has became full of relatively linear and noninteractive aggressive decks like Humans, Spirits, Dredge and Phoenix, to the point that Baneslayer Angel has become a staple in UW decks. This led me to think: why not play Baneslayer Angel in a Green midrange shell? If the card is good, isn't ramping into it even better? Starting from one of my favorite decks played by the Naya God himself, I have arrived at the list below:

Maindeck

Sideboard

imgur link

While by no means revolutionary or top-tier, this archetype definitely has legs. It has performed well at the FNM level, producing frequent prize finishes. I took it to one medium event, SCG Regionals last November, and went 4-4 with many misplays. Doing OK playing cards I like is good enough for me.

The maindeck has been quite static (despite many 2- and 3-ofs, it seems to work) until re-examination this week. Elspeth, Knight-Errant was replaced with Ajani Vengeant, and Tireless Trackers were replaced with Huntmasters. Two Bolts became two Helixes. These moves were a concession to the wild popularity of Phoenix and Burn at my store in particular. Its been so long since I played Huntmaster that I still have English ones...

Furthermore, in the sideboard Blood Moons were replaced with Damping Spheres, and Bonfires were replaced with Flame Slash + Dromoka's Command. I am contemplating swapping Rest in Peace for Relic of Progenitus in future as well.

Here's how the FNM went:

Round 1: UW Midrange (W 2-1)
Round 2: Jund (W 2-0)
Round 3: Affinity (W 2-0)
Round 4: Mono-Red Phoenix (L 1-2)
Round 5: Valakut (we drew, but L 0-2 in games)

We Modern Now

Unfortunately, there are no weekly Legacy events here in Jacksonville. Despite buying some Legacy cards on MTGO, I prefer paper Magic to MTGO enough that I'm willing to play Modern FNM. Here are some of the decks I've been playing:

UW Midrange, 7/27/18
Creature Spells (16) 4x Wall of Omens 4x Kitchen Finks 2x Vendilion Clique 4x Restoration Angel 1x Dragonlord Ojutai 1x Lyra Dawnbringer	Noncreature Spells (19) 4x Spell Snare 4x Path to Exile 2x Remand 1x Negate 1x Blessed Alliance 2x Detention Sphere 3x Cryptic Command 2x Supreme Verdict
Lands (25) 4x Flooded Strand 2x Hallowed Fountain 3x Island 3x Plains 4x Celestial Colonnade 3x Mystic Gate 1x Eiganjo Castle 1x Minamo, School at Water's Edge 4x Field of Ruin	SB: 2x Damping Sphere SB: 2x Rest in Peace SB: 2x Stony Silence SB: 2x Runed Halo SB: 2x Dispel SB: 2x Disenchant SB: 1x Celestial Purge SB: 1x Negate SB: 1x Supreme Verdict

UW Midrange has become one of my favorite Modern archetypes. The manabase and sideboard cards are great, and the Resto/Finks/Wall team does SO much work. This take is heavily based on Yuuya Watanabe's list from Worlds in 2015. UW has been quite successful in Modern recently in the form of hard control builds with Terminus, but I find that style much less appealing.

Zoo, 8/15/18
Creature Spells (27) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Wild Nacatl 4x Tarmogoyf 2x Qasali Pridemage 2x Scavenging Ooze 4x Knight of the Reliquary 3x Loxodon Smiter 4x Bloodbraid Elf	Noncreature Spells (11) 4x Path to Exile 4x Lightning Bolt 2x Lightning Helix 1x Domri Rade
Lands (22) 4x Windswept Heath 4x Wooded Foothills 2x Arid Mesa 1x Temple Garden 2x Stomping Ground 2x Sacred Foundry 2x Forest 1x Plains 1x Horizon Canopy 1x Stirring Wildwood 1x Ghost Quarter 1x Kessig Wolf Run	SB: 3x Molten Rain SB: 2x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 2x Fiery Justice SB: 2x Kitchen Finks SB: 2x Stony Silence SB: 2x Gaddock Teeg SB: 1x Ancient Grudge SB: 1x Sword of Light and Shadow

I always find myself coming back to Big Zoo in Modern. It just plays efficient, reasonably powerful cards and is capable presenting a quick clock, which are valuable attributes in this format. The unbanning of Bloodbraid Elf was great news for Zoo, but it has yet to put up many strong results. I think the deck isn't played very much as its on the more expensive side and isn't perceived as being good.

Liege Junk, 7/31/18
Creature Spells (27) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Birds of Paradise 4x Voice of Resurgence 2x Qasali Pridemage 2x Scavenging Ooze 4x Loxodon Smiter 4x Siege Rhino 3x Wilt-Leaf Liege	Noncreature Spells (10) 4x Path to Exile 2x Thoughtseize 4x Lingering Souls
Lands (23) 4x Windswept Heath 4x Verdant Catacombs 1x Marsh Flats 1x Temple Garden 1x Overgrown Tomb 1x Godless Shrine 3x Forest 1x Plains 1x Swamp 3x Razorverge Thicket 3x Gavony Township	SB: 2x Damping Sphere SB: 2x Rest in Peace SB: 2x Thoughtseize SB: 2x Stony Silence SB: 2x Gaddock Teeg SB: 2x Blessed Alliance SB: 1x Maelstrom Pulse SB: 1x Thrun, the Last Troll SB: 1x Sword of War and Peace

This deck has very polarized matchups and probably isn't very good overall.  However, I continue to play it solely due to the fact that Wilt-Leaf Liege is one of my favorite cards, and I don't really have another deck to play it in.

A Modern Renaissance

Modern is a format I've relegated to the back burner for several years, having last played it regularly during 2014. Since then, a flurry of bannings and unbannings have occurred, and decks have risen and fallen. By now, Modern has become a nearly unrecognizable format.

A few weeks ago I decided to play in SCG Modern Regionals on a lark, mostly because it was being held at my LGS, Gaming Etc. My Modern collection had been decimated from years of disuse. I could put together some sort of Zoo deck from my Legacy collection, but had my eyes set on something a bit different. After buying a few cards and asking around to borrow others, I ended up with this:

UW Midrange, 2/4/17
Creature Spells (16) 4x Wall of Omens 4x Blade Splicer 2x Vendilion Clique 2x Snapcaster Mage 4x Restoration Angel	Noncreature Spells (19) 4x Path to Exile 4x Spell Snare 3x Mana Leak 2x Cryptic Command 2x Ojutai's Command 1x Blessed Alliance 1x Detention Sphere 1x Engineered Explosives 1x Supreme Verdict
Lands (25) 4x Flooded Strand 2x Hallowed Fountain 5x Island 2x Plains 4x Celestial Colonnade 2x Glacial Fortress 1x Mystic Gate 4x Ghost Quarter 1x Moorland Haunt	SB: 2x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 1x Dispel SB: 2x Negate SB: 1x Condemn SB: 2x Stony Silence SB: 2x Aven Mindcensor SB: 1x Pithing Needle SB: 1x Celestial Purge SB: 1x Detention Sphere SB: 1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos SB: 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant

UW Midrange/Control is an archetype that has existed in Modern for a long time. You may recall John Finkel playing such a deck at the Players' Championship in 2012. This archetype got a significant boost with the printing of Flooded Strand into Modern, cementing one of its greatest advantages: a rock-solid manabase that can support two of the best lands in Modern, Celestial Colonnade and Ghost Quarter. Beyond the manabase there are a range of builds that can be played, from "do-nothing" Sphinx's Revelation control to value-oriented midrange.

I was naturally interested in trying a UW deck since Celestial Colonnade (which I had never played with) and Cryptic Command are two of my favorite Modern cards. The midrangey builds looked perfect for me due to their focus on creatures and blink shenanigans, one of my favorite things in Magic.

For my creature suite I went with the non-traditional choice of Blade Splicer over Kitchen Finks. Blade Splicer is card I have very fond memories of as it was the bread and butter of my first competitive Magic deck. It does some things better than Kitchen Finks and other things worse. Running Blade Splicer also opened up the possibility of playing Ojutai's Command for further cuteness (Update: this interaction does not work the way I want it to). Adding a Moorland Haunt was irresistible as well (I even considered jamming a Venser, the Sojourner somewhere in the 75 but that was too much). Otherwise, I think the list was pretty standard.

The tournament went poorly for me with a final record of 3-6. I honestly wasn't expecting to do well considering how rusty I was with the format, coupled with the fact that my deck probably wasn't very good. Indeed, I got punished for numerous play and sideboarding mistakes. However, I had a great time overall, and my interest in Modern has been re-invigorated and I've bought the remaining cards for the UW deck.

I also decided to give Zoo a spin in a local monthly event two weeks later.

Zoo, 2/18/17
Creature Spells (27) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Wild Nacatl 4x Tarmogoyf 2x Qasali Pridemage 2x Scavenging Ooze 1x Voice of Resurgence 4x Knight of the Reliquary 3x Loxodon Smiter 2x Stormbreath Dragon	Noncreature Spells (11) 4x Path to Exile 4x Lightning Bolt 1x Domri Rade 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1x Chandra, Pyromaster
Lands (22) 4x Windswept Heath 4x Wooded Foothills 1x Arid Mesa 2x Temple Garden 2x Stomping Ground 1x Sacred Foundry 2x Forest 1x Plains 1x Mountain 1x Horizon Canopy 1x Stirring Wildwood 1x Ghost Quarter 1x Kessig Wolf Run	SB: 2x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 2x Blood Moon SB: 2x Kitchen Finks SB: 2x Stony Silence SB: 2x Gaddock Teeg SB: 2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben SB: 1x Ancient Grudge SB: 1x Dromoka's Command SB: 1x Pithing Needle

Its a Big Zoo deck pretty similar to those that emerged in the aftermath of Wild Nacatl's unbanning. My curve goes up to five with Stormbreath Dragon in true Kibler style. I was reminded of the power of this card when I had the misfortune to play against it with the UW deck. Pro-White, Flying, Haste, and even Monstrous are all real things.

This tournament fared better than the first. I ended with a 4-2 record for 11th place out of 40-something players. My familiarity with Big Zoo in Legacy and the fact that its a reasonably forgiving deck definitely helped, but again I made several poor plays and sideboarding choices due to my inexperience with the format.

There are a few things I'd like to refine with the list. A 23rd land is needed in order to play 5-drops, and the manabase was sometimes sketchy in terms of colors (Red in particular), so the 2nd Arid Mesa is going in, and Raging Ravine will possibly replace Stirring Wildwood. In the sideboard I'll try cutting the versatile Dromoka's Command for a more dedicated removal spell like Fiery Justice.

Overall, I'm looking forward to play some more Modern. It will make for a nice change of pace from Legacy every so often.

Modern Musings

Watching GP Charlotte coverage this weekend got me thinking about Modern again. Looking back, I started getting into Modern late in 2012 with an Affinity deck ($9 Mox Opals!) but never finished it. I began building GW Hatebears at the end of 2013 and had it finished about a month before the new bannings and unbannings. Hatebears felt kind of bad since it was trying to be Maverick in a format without Wasteland, Stoneforge Mystic, and Green Sun's Zenith, so I moved into a new deck after another 2 months: Scapeshift. I love ramping and doing stuff with lands, and it plays what is possibly the sweetest Blue card, Cryptic Command, so it seemed like a very natural choice.

I tried to play a lot of Modern last Spring and Summer leading into the PTQ season and GP Worcester but I ended up being too busy to go to any PTQs and by Fall I was just playing Legacy instead, despite having the option to play Modern locally twice a week. Since then my Modern deck has remained virtually untouched. A lot of players have strong feelings about Modern; I'm honestly still not sure where I stand on it. The essence of Modern is simple and appealing. People want to build a deck that they can play a long time from a larger cardpool and with strategic depth that Standard Magic simply can't offer. While this experience best describes Legacy, the Reserved List and other factors have made the entry costs of that format quite prohibitive, and thus Modern has to provide a microcosm of that experience to both the Pro Tour and a wider audience. Unfortunately Modern can still be quite an expensive format, especially when Wizards has shown a willingness to ban entire decks out of existence. While the incessant bannings make Modern seem unhealthy, they have shaped it into a format that can offer something different from others. Due to the paucity of individually powerful cards in the format due to bannings, decks built around synergy and redundancy have arisen, which has certainly caused complaints about the over-effectiveness of sideboard cards and BGx decks that can efficiently disrupt synergies. But the nature of the format has allowed unique and quintessentially Modern decks to arise such as Twin, Amulet, Boggles, Living End, Tron, Ad Nauseam combo, and Pod. While some of the bannings seem absurd, they may be necessary to ensure Modern doesn't simply become a worse version of Legacy, but something different instead.

While it isn't for everyone, at the end of the day Modern is here to stay. It has become a very popular format and will only continue to grow as it inevitably gets cheaper with the reprinting of staples. However, in the wake of the MM2 release and accompanying financial upheaval, it remains unclear when prices reach a level where this growth can finally and completely be realized.