UPDATE: M14
This deck has really come on strong since M14 came out and gave us the creatures listed just below. A sample deck list by the great Michael Jacob is in the Sample Lists section. It is currently the only post-M14 list in the Primer's first post.
New M14 Additions:
Lifebane Zombie has replaced Geralf's Messenger in a lot of lists. With a field heavy with Jund, Kibler G/r Aggro, Naya, and UWr, the extra text on Lifebane really shines. Intimidate is an important aspect against those decks, and it can trade with a large section of relevant creatures if put back on defense. The ability to see your opponent's hand and sequence your plays and removal accordingly can not be overstated. It's not resilient to [c:
whbx1wt8]Mutilate[/c] the way Messenger's undying is, but that's made up by the other aspects it gives you.
Scavenging Ooze can potentially out-live your Mutilate, depending on board states and when you're casting either. But more importantly, it's a creature that comes down early against aggro, gains you life, and grows. While Cremate could take problem cards out of graveyards and draw you a card, Ooze can take care of multiple problem cards in graveyards and gain you life while representing a growing threat.
Mutavault can be jammed in the list now that we've replaced Messenger with Lifebane. We no longer need 3 black sources on turn 3. Mutavault is wonderful as it is a threat that naturally avoids your Mutilate.
Primeval Bounty is seeing some play in sideboards, and is sometimes replacing slots that went to Deadbridge
Chant. While it's not a form of card draw or card advantage, it does help each of your top decks become live cards with immediate impacts.
Introduction
Introduction
The Card Pool
What is The Rock?
“The Rock” is a deck name and archetype that has been around for a long time. The Rock plays a role somewhere between midrange and control. The purpose of The Rock is to destroy your opponent’s resources and then beat them down. It accomplishes this through hand disruption, removal, card advantage, and resilient threats.
Why play The Rock?
You would want to play The Rock if you enjoy long, grindy games and being in control of the board state. The Rock players enjoy various decision trees and forcing their opponents to make decisions they don’t want to make. You like The Rock if you enjoy drawing like a champ.
Why not to play The Rock?
If you favor “turn
dudes sideways” as your strategy, The Rock likely isn’t for you. If Island is your favorite control card, The Rock likely isn’t for you.
“The Rock” is a deck name and archetype that has been around for a long time. The Rock plays a role somewhere between midrange and control. The purpose of The Rock is to destroy your opponent’s resources and then beat them down. It accomplishes this through hand disruption, removal, card advantage, and resilient threats.
Why play The Rock?
You would want to play The Rock if you enjoy long, grindy games and being in control of the board state. The Rock players enjoy various decision trees and forcing their opponents to make decisions they don’t want to make. You like The Rock if you enjoy drawing like a champ.
Why not to play The Rock?
If you favor “turn
dudes sideways” as your strategy, The Rock likely isn’t for you. If Island is your favorite control card, The Rock likely isn’t for you.
The Card Pool
Sample Lists
The Rock as it currently exists in Standard (post-DGM, pre-M14 2013) draws heavily from some Mono Black Control (MBC) theory-crafting.
Because Mutilate is at the very core of the deck’s strategy, we choose our creatures and build our curve with it in mind. Here is an MBC (splashing red) list run by Conley Woods for PT-GTC:
[deck]
Creatures
4 Gloom Surgeon
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Griselbrand
Other Spells
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Dreadbore
4 Mutilate
1 Rakdos’s Return
4 Sign in Blood
1 Staff of Nin
4 Victim of Night
Land
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
17 Swamp
[/deck]
The core of this deck uses a very similar strategy to The Rock in that
you’re putting out threats that help you stabilize, you’re building in large card advantage with Sign in Blood and Griselbrand, and you’re packing a lot of removal.
The Rock takes these concepts and changes red to green in favor of more removal in Abrupt Decay and Putrefy as well as the most played card in Standard, which really fuels this archetype, in Thragtusk. The Rock also chooses its curve and creatures with Mutilate in mind, and foregoes Griselbrand in favor of more easily cast threats and synergies. The archetype would not exist without the following core cards:
[deck]
1 Thragtusk
1 Mutilate
1 Liliana of the Veil
[/deck]
From there, we build with resilient threats, board control, and hand disruption.
Additional Cards
In addition to the core cards, The Rock utilizes these packages:
n
Because Mutilate is at the very core of the deck’s strategy, we choose our creatures and build our curve with it in mind. Here is an MBC (splashing red) list run by Conley Woods for PT-GTC:
[deck]
Creatures
4 Gloom Surgeon
4 Crypt Ghast
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Griselbrand
Other Spells
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Dreadbore
4 Mutilate
1 Rakdos’s Return
4 Sign in Blood
1 Staff of Nin
4 Victim of Night
Land
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
17 Swamp
[/deck]
The core of this deck uses a very similar strategy to The Rock in that
you’re putting out threats that help you stabilize, you’re building in large card advantage with Sign in Blood and Griselbrand, and you’re packing a lot of removal.
The Rock takes these concepts and changes red to green in favor of more removal in Abrupt Decay and Putrefy as well as the most played card in Standard, which really fuels this archetype, in Thragtusk. The Rock also chooses its curve and creatures with Mutilate in mind, and foregoes Griselbrand in favor of more easily cast threats and synergies. The archetype would not exist without the following core cards:
[deck]
1 Thragtusk
1 Mutilate
1 Liliana of the Veil
[/deck]
From there, we build with resilient threats, board control, and hand disruption.
Additional Cards
In addition to the core cards, The Rock utilizes these packages:
n
Creatures
Geralf’s Messenger – This little guy has so many uses. He comes into play tapped so you’re not putting down a blocker for the first turn, but he comes back after a Mutilate board wipe and sometimes tricks your opponent into overextending because they assume you won’t wipe the board after you play him.
Desecration Demon – often derided as a “trap” card, the Demon could almost be put in the above “core cards” list. He forces your opponents to make a decision they don’t want to make. This can be confused with the decision with Vexing Devil and therefore be assumed horrible, but with the removal that this deck packs, you will be swinging with a 6/6 or larger flyer. He helps your board control and is a finisher, all in one. Do not play this card unless you pack a lot of removal, which this deck does.
Thragtusk – the ultimate stabilizer. I don’t
think he needs any more explanation than the past year’s worth of being the #1 used card in Standard. However he does help synergize with…
Disciple of Bolas – What? Now THAT’S a spicy meatball! This is our replacement for Griselbrand from Woods’s MBC list. Sac a dude, get life and cards equal to its power. LIFE AND CARDS. T5 Thragtusk, gain 5. T6 Disciple, sac Thrag, gain 5 draw 5 make a 3/3. Seems pretty decent to me. Sac a 7/7 or 8/8 Desecration demon to this before a Mutilate is also a strong play later in the game.
Desecration Demon – often derided as a “trap” card, the Demon could almost be put in the above “core cards” list. He forces your opponents to make a decision they don’t want to make. This can be confused with the decision with Vexing Devil and therefore be assumed horrible, but with the removal that this deck packs, you will be swinging with a 6/6 or larger flyer. He helps your board control and is a finisher, all in one. Do not play this card unless you pack a lot of removal, which this deck does.
Thragtusk – the ultimate stabilizer. I don’t
think he needs any more explanation than the past year’s worth of being the #1 used card in Standard. However he does help synergize with…
Disciple of Bolas – What? Now THAT’S a spicy meatball! This is our replacement for Griselbrand from Woods’s MBC list. Sac a dude, get life and cards equal to its power. LIFE AND CARDS. T5 Thragtusk, gain 5. T6 Disciple, sac Thrag, gain 5 draw 5 make a 3/3. Seems pretty decent to me. Sac a 7/7 or 8/8 Desecration demon to this before a Mutilate is also a strong play later in the game.
Removal
Tragic Slip – wonderful early removal and tempo loss against an aggro deck with Champion of the Parish or Stromkirk Noble. With our resilient dudes and the rest of our removal, Morbid is very relevant as well.
Victim of Night – this is easier for our deck to cast than other early
removal (barring tragic slip), but it whiffs against some very relevant creatures like Stromkirk, Huntmaster of the Fells, Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Olivia Voldaren. Therefore this is usually a 2 or 3 of with an extra in the side for aggro blitz matchups.
Abrupt Decay – Can’t be countered and doesn’t whiff against anything without indestructible, AS LONG AS the target’s CMC is 3 or less. This is the early removal card of choice and, since we need to see it early, is normally a 3 or 4 of in the list.
Putrefy – this is in a way a harder-to-cast Murder. I say that because its two clauses that Murder doesn’t have, that it hits artifacts and the target can’t be regenerated, are rarely applicable. However, this deck can hit its green fairly well and we run this over Murder for cards like Lotleth Troll and Wolfir
Avenger.
Mutilate – this wouldn’t be a deck without this card. The ability to wipe the board clear T4 or a bit later and then let your spot removal, card advantage, and threats take over is invaluable.
Victim of Night – this is easier for our deck to cast than other early
removal (barring tragic slip), but it whiffs against some very relevant creatures like Stromkirk, Huntmaster of the Fells, Falkenrath Aristocrat, and Olivia Voldaren. Therefore this is usually a 2 or 3 of with an extra in the side for aggro blitz matchups.
Abrupt Decay – Can’t be countered and doesn’t whiff against anything without indestructible, AS LONG AS the target’s CMC is 3 or less. This is the early removal card of choice and, since we need to see it early, is normally a 3 or 4 of in the list.
Putrefy – this is in a way a harder-to-cast Murder. I say that because its two clauses that Murder doesn’t have, that it hits artifacts and the target can’t be regenerated, are rarely applicable. However, this deck can hit its green fairly well and we run this over Murder for cards like Lotleth Troll and Wolfir
Avenger.
Mutilate – this wouldn’t be a deck without this card. The ability to wipe the board clear T4 or a bit later and then let your spot removal, card advantage, and threats take over is invaluable.
Utility
Cremate – I’ve got 2 copies mainboard and another 2 in the side. Some folks don’t like this MB, but it’s amazing when it’s needed and still OK when it’s not. A little extra tech against aggro – Cremate their Rancor while it’s temporarily in the GY before it goes back to hand. In the matchups where this isn’t needed it still cantrips and is a good discard target for Liliana of the Veil.
Sign in Blood – This helps us dig for answers. 2 cards for 2 mana and 2 life and a card is decent. Black has for a long time played with the concept of life as a resource to draw cards, and Sign in Blood is a fair example of that
concept in Standard. This card can start to hurt against a blitz-style aggro deck, so be careful.
Sign in Blood – This helps us dig for answers. 2 cards for 2 mana and 2 life and a card is decent. Black has for a long time played with the concept of life as a resource to draw cards, and Sign in Blood is a fair example of that
concept in Standard. This card can start to hurt against a blitz-style aggro deck, so be careful.
Planeswalkers
Liliana of the Veil – Some say she’s the 2nd best Planeswalker ever printed, behind JtMS. I wouldn’t know about that, but she sure shines in this build. Since we’re heavy against aggro in the main, but some builds include cards like Cremate MB and we run 24 land, we’re usually very happy to +1 her. When you know you’re discarding a card that you don’t need, it squashes the symmetry of the ability. Her -2 edict effect helps against aggro but also comes in huge against those Bant Enchant matchups and anything hexproof.
Garruk Relentless – Create an army of 2/2 wolves, create an army of 1/1 deathtouch wolves, sac tokens or an already used Disciple of Bolas to tutor another Thragtusk. This card just packs in the answers and is a
toolbox in a card.
Garruk Relentless – Create an army of 2/2 wolves, create an army of 1/1 deathtouch wolves, sac tokens or an already used Disciple of Bolas to tutor another Thragtusk. This card just packs in the answers and is a
toolbox in a card.
Sideboard Options
The main board is fairly well positioned against most aggro decks with the sheer amount of removal it packs, so our sideboard plans revolve around shoring that up with additional copies of the main’s removal spells as well as creating a boarding plan against other midrange and control decks.
Duress – Duress and effects like it have been played in Standard and eternal formats as long as they’ve been around. You always want to bring in the full suite of Duress against a Control player. It gives you perfect information (until the next draw) and lets you strip their hand of the most pertinent card for the situation.
Appetite for Brains – Very similar to Duress but varies in its application. This comes in against the midrange decks as well as Control. You can hit Planeswalkers and Aetherlings against Control and the bigger beaters against
midrange.
Staff of Nin – This card does SO MUCH WORK in the longer matchups. A “free” extra draw per turn as well as pinging a creature or player each turn. Ours is a deck of card advantage and attrition, so this is a natural fit.
Curse of Death’s Hold – Believe it or not, our deck struggles against Esper Control. Curse is great against their tokens. This could be Illness in the Ranks, but curse is a bit more widely applicable, though more expensive. Illness also hoses Garruk’s 1/1 deathtouch wolves.
Pithing Needle – Nephalia Drownyard getting you down? Or maybe Sorin, Lord of Innistrad or another planeswalker? How about Aetherling, UW/x Control’s new toy? Here’s an answer.
Golgari Charm – The -1/-1 is good against tokens as well as aggro, and the other modes can be relevant given the
situation. I’m not currently boarding this, but it’s not a bad choice. It can clear a pesky Rancor, Unflinching Courage, Spectral Flight (though Abrupt Decay hits those too) or Assemble the Legion if you’re seeing that card around at all.
Tribute to Hunger or Devour Flesh – Similar to the write-up on Liliana, edicts are powerful in this build. Against normal aggro or midrange decks we can clear the way for this to hit the exact creature we want, and against hexproof decks edicts and Mutilate are our only answers. I’d run Devour Flesh over Tribute because of the lifegain we already have and the easier casting cost.
Ground Seal – This is really for those reanimator matchups. Many Rock decks are running around 3 Cremate in
the 75 (mine has 2 main, 2 side) which should be enough to gain an advantage over reanimator, especially game 1. Reanimator is also running Acidic Slime to get rid of all the Ground Seals Jund is main decking right now. It replaces itself which is always good, but they’re going to play around it more often than not.
Duress – Duress and effects like it have been played in Standard and eternal formats as long as they’ve been around. You always want to bring in the full suite of Duress against a Control player. It gives you perfect information (until the next draw) and lets you strip their hand of the most pertinent card for the situation.
Appetite for Brains – Very similar to Duress but varies in its application. This comes in against the midrange decks as well as Control. You can hit Planeswalkers and Aetherlings against Control and the bigger beaters against
midrange.
Staff of Nin – This card does SO MUCH WORK in the longer matchups. A “free” extra draw per turn as well as pinging a creature or player each turn. Ours is a deck of card advantage and attrition, so this is a natural fit.
Curse of Death’s Hold – Believe it or not, our deck struggles against Esper Control. Curse is great against their tokens. This could be Illness in the Ranks, but curse is a bit more widely applicable, though more expensive. Illness also hoses Garruk’s 1/1 deathtouch wolves.
Pithing Needle – Nephalia Drownyard getting you down? Or maybe Sorin, Lord of Innistrad or another planeswalker? How about Aetherling, UW/x Control’s new toy? Here’s an answer.
Golgari Charm – The -1/-1 is good against tokens as well as aggro, and the other modes can be relevant given the
situation. I’m not currently boarding this, but it’s not a bad choice. It can clear a pesky Rancor, Unflinching Courage, Spectral Flight (though Abrupt Decay hits those too) or Assemble the Legion if you’re seeing that card around at all.
Tribute to Hunger or Devour Flesh – Similar to the write-up on Liliana, edicts are powerful in this build. Against normal aggro or midrange decks we can clear the way for this to hit the exact creature we want, and against hexproof decks edicts and Mutilate are our only answers. I’d run Devour Flesh over Tribute because of the lifegain we already have and the easier casting cost.
Ground Seal – This is really for those reanimator matchups. Many Rock decks are running around 3 Cremate in
the 75 (mine has 2 main, 2 side) which should be enough to gain an advantage over reanimator, especially game 1. Reanimator is also running Acidic Slime to get rid of all the Ground Seals Jund is main decking right now. It replaces itself which is always good, but they’re going to play around it more often than not.
Cards on the Cusp
Underworld Connections – 1 life = 1 card is so black. I love it. However this isn’t exactly true for this card. This is instead 1 life + 1 mana = 1 card. Better than most draw spells still. This is a great tool for black-based decks right now, and is especially pertinent against control decks when your life total isn’t rapidly declining and the game goes long. Not a great choice against aggro decks.
Deathrite Shaman – Great card. Seeing eternal play. Not really seen in Standard too much right now. This guy’s good in a game of attrition,
especially in a deck that sacs its own guys. However, he absolutely doesn’t pass the Mutilate test our deck requires. He does have fairly good synergy with the following card, should you choose to build around it.
Deadbridge Chant – Do not play this against a mill deck. Yuck. But otherwise, it’s another free draw. Some people are considering putting in Elixir of Immortality and Deathrite Shaman which, combined with Cremate, help you to control the “draw” from Deadbridge. The truth is, your normal draw step is random (sans Ponder effects) anyway. And other than the first 10 mill self or discards to Liliana, cards you’re putting in the bin are likely more relevant than the random card you top-deck. This is another card that enables you to go long against control and maintain card parity or even advantage against them. However, those are also
the decks that run Nephalia Drownyard and Jace, Memory Adept, so it’s risky. Just once though I want to live this dream – Thragtusk, gain 5. Disciple of Bolas targeting Thragtusk, gain 5 draw 5, make a 3/3. Deadbridge Chant re-animates Thragtusk, gain 5. Super troll.
Vraska the Unseen – If you run her, she’ll mostly be a Vindicate for you. Which isn’t horrible, but she has a high casting cost. She has the ability to outright steal the game against control due to her ultimate, but then we’re evaluating a planeswalker based on its ultimate and that makes Tibalt look good. Ok, no it doesn’t. But still, Vraska is a good inclusion in this deck if you want her, but I prefer Garruk Relentless as the 2nd ‘walker here.
Gloom Surgeon – This is a great roadblock until you garner board control. Don’t worry about his exile effect – just ignore the cards you
see exiled, or pretend they were all stuck at the bottom of your library anyway. Dies to
Mutilate, but so does everything else so after the board wipe he won’t be as necessary. Early game against aggro is where you want him. However, The Rock has a very tight creature package and instead relies on 1 for 1 removal until board stabilization.
Vampire Nighthawk – Another card that some people see as “anti-aggro.” Deathtouch is super relevant, but he dilutes your deck the same way Gloom Surgeon does.
Deathrite Shaman – Great card. Seeing eternal play. Not really seen in Standard too much right now. This guy’s good in a game of attrition,
especially in a deck that sacs its own guys. However, he absolutely doesn’t pass the Mutilate test our deck requires. He does have fairly good synergy with the following card, should you choose to build around it.
Deadbridge Chant – Do not play this against a mill deck. Yuck. But otherwise, it’s another free draw. Some people are considering putting in Elixir of Immortality and Deathrite Shaman which, combined with Cremate, help you to control the “draw” from Deadbridge. The truth is, your normal draw step is random (sans Ponder effects) anyway. And other than the first 10 mill self or discards to Liliana, cards you’re putting in the bin are likely more relevant than the random card you top-deck. This is another card that enables you to go long against control and maintain card parity or even advantage against them. However, those are also
the decks that run Nephalia Drownyard and Jace, Memory Adept, so it’s risky. Just once though I want to live this dream – Thragtusk, gain 5. Disciple of Bolas targeting Thragtusk, gain 5 draw 5, make a 3/3. Deadbridge Chant re-animates Thragtusk, gain 5. Super troll.
Vraska the Unseen – If you run her, she’ll mostly be a Vindicate for you. Which isn’t horrible, but she has a high casting cost. She has the ability to outright steal the game against control due to her ultimate, but then we’re evaluating a planeswalker based on its ultimate and that makes Tibalt look good. Ok, no it doesn’t. But still, Vraska is a good inclusion in this deck if you want her, but I prefer Garruk Relentless as the 2nd ‘walker here.
Gloom Surgeon – This is a great roadblock until you garner board control. Don’t worry about his exile effect – just ignore the cards you
see exiled, or pretend they were all stuck at the bottom of your library anyway. Dies to
Mutilate, but so does everything else so after the board wipe he won’t be as necessary. Early game against aggro is where you want him. However, The Rock has a very tight creature package and instead relies on 1 for 1 removal until board stabilization.
Vampire Nighthawk – Another card that some people see as “anti-aggro.” Deathtouch is super relevant, but he dilutes your deck the same way Gloom Surgeon does.
Sample Lists
Sideboarding
Robbie Cordell, Top 8 SCG Open Nashville, 5/18/2013
[deck]
Creatures – 14
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
2 Disciple of Bolas
Other Spells - 18
4 Sign in Blood
2 Cremate
1 Putrefy
3 Tragic Slip
3 Mutilate
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Victim of Night
nPlaneswalkers - 4
1 Garruk Relentless
3 Liliana of the Veil
Land – 24
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
14 Swamp
2 Golgari Guildgate
Sideboard – 15
2 Underworld Connections
2 Golgari Charm
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Duress
2 Vraska the Unseen
1 Mutilate
2 Ground Seal
[/deck]
Creatures – 14
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
2 Disciple of Bolas
Other Spells - 18
4 Sign in Blood
2 Cremate
1 Putrefy
3 Tragic Slip
3 Mutilate
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Victim of Night
nPlaneswalkers - 4
1 Garruk Relentless
3 Liliana of the Veil
Land – 24
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
14 Swamp
2 Golgari Guildgate
Sideboard – 15
2 Underworld Connections
2 Golgari Charm
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Duress
2 Vraska the Unseen
1 Mutilate
2 Ground Seal
[/deck]
Geoff Tucker, TCG Spring States 2013 – Top 4 Arkansas
[deck]
Creatures – 13
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
1 Disciple of Bolas
Other Spells - 17
4 Sign in Blood
1 Putrefy
3 Tragic Slip
3 Mutilate
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Victim of Night
Planeswalkers - 6
3 Garruk Relentless
3 Liliana of the Veil
Land – 24
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
14 Swamp
2 Golgari Guildgate
Sideboard – 15
2 Underworld Connections
2 Golgari Charm
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Duress
2 Vraska the Unseen
1 Mutilate
2 Ground Seal
[/deck]
Creatures – 13
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4 Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
1 Disciple of Bolas
Other Spells - 17
4 Sign in Blood
1 Putrefy
3 Tragic Slip
3 Mutilate
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Victim of Night
Planeswalkers - 6
3 Garruk Relentless
3 Liliana of the Veil
Land – 24
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
14 Swamp
2 Golgari Guildgate
Sideboard – 15
2 Underworld Connections
2 Golgari Charm
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Duress
2 Vraska the Unseen
1 Mutilate
2 Ground Seal
[/deck]
RCWRaspy’s Take on The Rock
[deck]
Creatures – 14
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4
Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
2 Disciple of Bolas
Other Spells - 17
3 Sign in Blood
2 Cremate
1 Putrefy
3 Tragic Slip
3 Mutilate
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Victim of Night
Planeswalkers - 5
2 Garruk Relentless
3 Liliana of the Veil
Land – 24
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
14 Swamp
2 Golgari Guildgate
Sideboard – 15
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Duress
3 Pithing Needle
2 Cremate
1 Mutilate
1 Victim of Night
1 Tragic Slip
1 Staff of Nin
[/deck]
Creatures – 14
4 Geralf’s Messenger
4
Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
2 Disciple of Bolas
Other Spells - 17
3 Sign in Blood
2 Cremate
1 Putrefy
3 Tragic Slip
3 Mutilate
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Victim of Night
Planeswalkers - 5
2 Garruk Relentless
3 Liliana of the Veil
Land – 24
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
14 Swamp
2 Golgari Guildgate
Sideboard – 15
3 Appetite for Brains
3 Duress
3 Pithing Needle
2 Cremate
1 Mutilate
1 Victim of Night
1 Tragic Slip
1 Staff of Nin
[/deck]
Michael Jacob's Stream List
[deck]
Lands
1 Forest
2 Golgari Guildgate
3 Mutavault
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
11 Swamp
Creatures
4 Lifebane Zombie
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
2 Disciple of Bolas
Planeswalkers
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Vraska the Unseen
Others
3 Sign in Blood
3 Mutilate
2 Tragic Slip
2 Doom Blade
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Putrefy
Sideboard
2 Demonic Rising
2 Underworld Connections
1 Deadbridge Chant
1 Mutilate
2 Gaze of Granite
3 Duress
1
Liliana of the Veil
1 Golgari Charm
2 Vampire Nighthawk
[/deck]
Lands
1 Forest
2 Golgari Guildgate
3 Mutavault
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
11 Swamp
Creatures
4 Lifebane Zombie
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Desecration Demon
4 Thragtusk
2 Disciple of Bolas
Planeswalkers
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Vraska the Unseen
Others
3 Sign in Blood
3 Mutilate
2 Tragic Slip
2 Doom Blade
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Putrefy
Sideboard
2 Demonic Rising
2 Underworld Connections
1 Deadbridge Chant
1 Mutilate
2 Gaze of Granite
3 Duress
1
Liliana of the Veil
1 Golgari Charm
2 Vampire Nighthawk
[/deck]
Sideboarding
Matchups
Against Aggro: - Cremate, -Sign in Blood, +Extra copies of the MB removal spells
Against Midrange: -Abrupt Decay, +Appetite for Brains
Against Control: -Removal, +Appetite, Duress, Staff of Nin, Pithing Needle (esper and Aetherling)
Against Midrange: -Abrupt Decay, +Appetite for Brains
Against Control: -Removal, +Appetite, Duress, Staff of Nin, Pithing Needle (esper and Aetherling)
Matchups
Additional Resources
TO BE UPDATED
Additional Resources
Thank you for reading through my description of The Rock as an archetype in the current Standard format. I hope it’s helpful, and please comment or ask questions to get the thread going. My apologies for no Mountains.TCGPlayer Frank Lepore’s Write-Up and Videos: http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11151
Top 4 Arkansas States Write-Up: http://magic.
tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11177
Star City Brian Braun-Duin Write-Up (scroll down): http://www.starcitygames.com/article/26 ... agame.html
Star City Deck Tech with Robbie Cordell: http://www.starcitygames.com/events/cov ... obbie.html
Top 4 Arkansas States Write-Up: http://magic.
tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11177
Star City Brian Braun-Duin Write-Up (scroll down): http://www.starcitygames.com/article/26 ... agame.html
Star City Deck Tech with Robbie Cordell: http://www.starcitygames.com/events/cov ... obbie.html
