UG Flying Weenies

Today, we look to the past for some inspiration on deck building. This is actually one of the earlier decks that I know about, as it became a ‘legitimate’ contender with the game’s first expansion, Arabian Nights. While not quite as famous as its brother in another colour, that doesn’t mean it’s not as dangerous. So let’s dive right in and see what we can learn about UG Flying Weenies.

If you could have one super power, what would it be? Personally, I’d probably choose teleportation; and yet I actually think the most popular answer would likely be flying. Why do I mention this? Well, that means that the average person would be pretty envious of every creature in today’s deck. The reason for this is quite simple: today we are employing cheap threats that can fly their way to victory. So which ones do we choose to include? That’s where things get interesting. Note: I do want to mention that Scryb Sprites and Flying Men should be in every deck, as they are simple, elegant and exactly what we want.

The other 1-drop flying dudes aren’t as streamlined, which is where it comes down to your play-style, meta, et cetera. I decided on Xantid Swarm because they can clear the way to a safe Berserk-style win. This is pretty handy, despite the obvious scratch against them being that they do not deal damage on their own (Birds of Paradise being another great example). Of course, you can also go for other 1/1 flyers such as Cloud Pirate, which is U instead of G – colour balance being another factor to consider in your deck construction decision(s). Whew, who would’ve thought tiny flying dudes could complicate things to such an extent, am I right?

Alright, enough about creatures! What else can we do with our strategy? Giant Growth is a surprisingly good Swiss army knife-type of card. What I mean by this is that it has a deceptive number of uses, both in attack and defense. The obvious uses are that it can make you hit the opponent harder and defend a bigger creature without yours dying. Simple, right? Sure, but let’s look at some other uses/factors. It can save a creature from direct damage (creature protection), ambush an attacking/blocking opponent (creature removal) or make your opponent not block because of a potential Growth (unblockable). And those were just off the top of my head – the point is the card has some versatility to it. In short: great card.

In a deck that wants to hit your opponent with fast damage, it might surprise people not to include Red. There are certainly pros to playing the colour, and yet there are also pros to not doing so. With its emphasis on growing small creatures for damage, you gain some long-game options that aren’t available via direct damage. The addition of Red also weakens the mana base when it’s not even necessary. Why? Because an awesome thing about UG Weenies is that you CAN include direct damage. I put in 4x Psionic Blast because they are a great addition as creature removal and/or to win the game.

Should I Brainstorm? Admittedly, Brainstorm wasn’t originally included in Weenies. The reason was because I wanted to concentrate on quick and efficient opening hands, and Brainstorm can slow down your tempo. Eventually, I decided to add it however, as I felt that old lightning head can help you find the last couple points of damage and smooth out your draws if you hit some land. I didn’t really test out which version was correct; I think that choice depends on your play-style. Happy Brewing!

UG Flying Weenies

Land

1 Island

1 Pendelhaven

4 Tropical Island

4 Wasteland

7 Fetch lands

Total: 17

Creatures

4 Scryb Sprites

4 Flying Men

4 Xantid Swarm

1 Serendib Efreet

Total: 13

Spells

4 Berserk

4 Rancor

3 Giant Growth

4 Unstable Mutation

4 Force of Will

4 Daze

4 Psionic Blast

3 Concordant Crossroads

Total: 30

Sideboard

4 Naturalize

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Counterspell

1 Giant Growth

1 Regrowth

1 Ground Seal

Pandeburst

Today we are learning about a deck that I knew very little about prior to writing this article. Apparently, it was actually a pretty popular deck back in the semi-old days; I just wasn’t aware of it because I had stopped playing the game by the time it existed. I find the way it works to be quite fascinating however, and decided to look into its history a bit to see what I could design within the Ancient rules. So let’s remember that we should a) always be nice to pandas, and b) read on about something entirely unrelated to them: Pandeburst.

To begin, let’s first take a look at the namesake cards of the deck to better understand how it works. Pande- comes from Pandemonium, a card we’ve actually talked about in a different deck some time ago. The second half, -burst, comes from Saproling Burst, another relatively obscure card by the average player nowadays. The name is rather fitting, as the two combine to form a winning combo when they’re both in play. So how does it work? Essentially – with Pandemonium on the board, Saproling Burst becomes a pinger-type outlet via its tokens. The first token being a 7/7, then a 6/6, then a 5/5, then a 4/4.. you get the idea. Sacrifice these to Pandemonium, send some direct damage to your opponent, and ta-da – you win the game.

The rest of the cards act as your standard combo-type of deck; the main ones are used to assemble the combo pieces so you can win the game. Brainstorm is an obvious inclusion, but you might be wondering about Intuition and Careful Study. The reason we use these are actually because the win con can often be a combo within a combo. What do I mean by that? Well to start, the latter 2 cards are used to collect your win pieces – whether that means putting them into your hand or into your graveyard. That’s where the second combo sort of comes into play – how do we win if our card is in the ‘yard? The answer is.. in the next paragraph. DUN DUN DUN.

Alrighty, as promised – the answer to our obvious riddle. What’s the best way to get enchantments from the graveyard into play? Replenish of course! In fact, I would argue that this is the real combo to the deck, as it lets you circumvent the casting costs of your win conditions. Not only does this mean getting a combined 9 CMC out for the cost of a Replenish, but it also means that both cards hit the board at the same time – avoiding the awkwardness of one being destroyed or countered while the other is in play.

One thing that stands out to me is that the deck contains 4 colours. This is normally something that I avoid doing, as I find it to be very easy for an opponent to ruin your mana base. The reason I am fine with it here is because there is no spell, aside from the two creatures, that requires 2+ of a colour to be cast. In fact, the deck can technically be played without the G or R mana base – I just chose to add the Island duals because I prefer being able to cast any card in the deck. This is not a rule that you need to abide by, simply a preference of mine when it comes to deck construction. In other words, build the deck based on your play style. Happy Brewing!

Pandeburst

Land

4 Tundra

2 Volcanic Island

2 Tropical Island

4 Island

1 Plains

4 Ancient Tomb

7 Fetch lands

Total: 24

Creatures

2 Gigapede

Total: 2

Spells

4 Pandemonium

4 Saproling Burst

4 Replenish

4 Brainstorm

1 Sleight of Hand

1 Opt

4 Intuition

4 Careful Study

4 Force of Will

4 Swords to Plowshares

Total: 34

Sideboard

4 Tormod’s Crypt

4 Disenchant

2 City of Solitude

2 Meekstone

1 Aegis of Honor

2 Circle of Protection: Red