UB Fish 2k7 From the Bottom Up

Stephen Menendian asked me on the way back from the RIW tournament last month why I play UB Fish rather than UW. My first answer was that I think graveyard hate is really strong in the format, and that’s absolutely true. I love having maindeck Withered Wretch and sideboard Planar Void (though those may get changed to Leylines of the Void). Plus, Duress is incredibly powerful at times.

“Why not Jotun Grunt?” he asked. “That’s graveyard hate.”

“Yeah, I know. But it’s different,” I said. And then I realized, or I admitted rather, “I think I like playing something rogue without it being too out-there.”

And I think that’s what it is. I like the Fish archetype because I like spending time with my opponents. I’m sure I will at some point, but I haven’t met a Vintage player yet who has been rude or unfun. Most people are down for a little gaming banter before, during, and after the match, and if they’re not, at least they’re polite. Why wouldn’t I want to hang out with these people for a three-game match?

Black compliments blue very well and gives Fish some great options. Dark Confidant is amazing, for example, and often ties directly into me winning. Duress is excellent against combo, blue-based control, and everything in between. Graveyard hate, as I mentioned earlier, is good against the format’s Yawgmoth’s Wills and Goblin Welders, not just against Ichorid and Dragon. (Not to mention that Withered Wretch swings for two.)

Plus, what’s more fun that playing anti-Vintage decks in Vintage? I’ll let other people do the broken stuff and give myself what I think are the best opportunities to stop them.

So, though I may dabble in other decks and colors, UB Fish is here to stay.

It’s coming up on the one-year anniversary of UB Fish too. I debuted the deck on February 27, 2006 in a tournament at Compendium Collectibles in Rocky River, Ohio, where I went 2-3-1 on the day. Seems like it’s about time for an annual review.

To do Fishwise
1. Re-evaluate cards set aside (Daze, Chalice of the Void, Aether Vial, etc.)
2. Test Tinker for Titan and Yawgmoth’s Will
3. Test Extirpate
4. Win a Mox

Since last February, and all through 2006, I feel like I’ve improved the deck greatly by removing the chaff like Dimir Infiltrator and Rootwater Thief and by having Wizards design me new cards like Remand and Extirpate.

More importantly, I’ve learned more about Vintage Magic and Fish-strategy in general.

For example, I know that my creatures aren’t really going to cut the mustard as far as disruption goes, and there really aren’t that many better options. Withered Wretch and Martyr of Frost have been solid players for me, no doubt, but my bread and butter are Dark Confidant and Ninja of the Deep Hours. It’s a rare game that I get both of these on board for more than one turn and lose; they draw me into my control spells and the mana with which to use them.

However, there are still things I’m learning. For example, two weekends ago in Michigan, Daze and I had a little reunion of sorts. See, I played Daze in my first UB Fish builds because I saw other people playing it and thought it must be good. When I tried it, though, I hated it. “It’s a Time Walk for your opponent!” I cried, and took it out of my decks, vowing never to run it again.

Now, I see where it’s good. It does Time Walk your opponent some because you return the land to your hand. At the same time, though, your opponent misses a turn because their development spell was countered. More importantly, it can be used while tapped out, which is what Fish is at the beginning of the game as it tries to get threats and answers online.

So, one of the things I need to examine more closely in the new year is the application of Daze and other cards that I’d previously set aside. Since there are a good number of these, I’ll give you a list of my top four, besides Daze:

Carnophage – Nice and aggressive, a threatening first turn play that turns into Ninja without too much trouble. His upkeep has never been a problem, unlike Dark Confidant’s, which has killed me. Plus, I really like the idea of having a better clock.

Dimir Cutpurse – This was dismissed by me initially for two reasons. First, I didn’t like the three casting cost, and second, I didn’t want to be playing the Sullivan Solution. Still this guy’s attacks are like Ancestral every turn, and that seems really good.

Chalice of the Void – This was in the main for a little while, then it got moved to the side, and now it’s never on my lists. It’s a card that you have to play four of but that my list can’t handle playing past a cost of zero, which means multiples are dead, and I hate that. It stops Tinker by preventing its earliest targets, but Tinker seems like it’s on its way out (Hallelujah!), so the only thing left would be sideboard against combo, in my opinion.

Cabal Therapy – There’s a lot of power in this card, but I’ve never even attempted to use it. I think with the added knowledge from Duress and Extirpate, it could be especially good. Unfortunately, it has a propensity to whiff.

Another thing I wanted to look at is using Tinker, either maindecked or as a sideboard card. I’ve been beaten by Tinker more than once in the past, as it brings the Big Dumb Guy with a quickness. I’d like to harness that power for myself. The problem is that my deck runs only seven artifacts: three Null Rod, two Moxes, Lotus Petal, and Black Lotus. First, I’d almost never be able to do that play first turn. Second and more importantly, I’m not sure that seven meets the threshold number of Tinker outlets to be viable.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to Tinker up Sundering Titan against Gifts or another Fish deck? The threats of destroying my own lands and of finding the Titan with Dark Confidant don’t bother me at all.

Honestly, it’s not a strategy I think will stick. My random chance of it going off just isn’t that good. It’s a two-card combo where one of the pieces is restricted and two of the seven other pieces get sacrificed. Plus, Bob finding me a Sundering Titan can randomly kill me, though that’s not my first fear.

Yawgmoth’s Will is different, though. It’s not necessarily combo that it’s best in, it’s just decks with acceleration that fill their graveyards with threats. Unfortunately, my graveyard fills with answers, and I have four pieces of accleleration. My best play from Yawgmoth’s Will happens probably with Black Lotus and involves me playing a Strip Mine, a Duress, and a creature (hopefully Dark Confidant). I can’t fix my hand or draw cards right away without Ancestral, and a lot of cards (Stifle and Force of Will mostly) in there are pretty worthless.

You heard it here first, folks. Yawgmoth’s will is utter crap. (Or udder crap, I learned about that on Mike Rowe’s Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel.)

One thing that will be tested (and indeed, played) by me is Extirpate. In a six test matches yesterday it performed admirably, contributing noticeably to wins, removing all of Gifts win conditions, etc.

Here’s the list I was playing (it’s near the list I will likely play at the tournament in Sandusky this weekend—see below):

4x Force of Will
4x Stifle
4x Duress
3x Extirpate
3x Null Rod
2x Echoing Truth
1x Chain of Vapor
1x Time Walk
1x Ancestral Recall

4x Dark Confidant
3x Martyr of Frost
3x Ninja of the Deep Hours
3x Withered Wretch
2x Carnophage

3x Polluted Delta
2x Bloodstained Mire
2x Swamp
2x Island
4x Underground Sea
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Mox Jet
1x Black Lotus
1x Lotus Petal

Sideboard
3x Planar Void
3x Energy Flux
2x Black Knight
2x Nekrataal
2x Diabolic Edict
2x Umezawa’s Jitte
1x Echoing Decay

The problem with this is that it has far too much graveyard hate. Extirpate, Withered Wretch, and Planar Void were all in my deck at times, which ensured that I’d have one of them in my opening hand. Is that good? Well, it’s probably overkill, especially because Planar Void is redundant with the other two, and Wretch can remove something I might want to Extirpate later.

So, in light of the cards I want to test and Extirpate going in as my maindeck graveyard hate, I think Withered Wretch comes out. He will probably be replaced with Dimir Cutpurse, though I don’t know the specific numbers in, out, etc. Cutpurse has some synergy with Extirpate as well since if my opponent discards the wrong card, he’s sunk. Planar Void may change as well since, as I said, it plays poorly with the new toy from Planar Chaos.

We’ll see how it goes, and of course I’ll have a report on Monday or Tuesday.

Here’s the tournament information for everyone who bothered to read this far.

When:
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Registration starts at noon
Tournament starts at 1 pm

Where:
The Gamers Lounge
127 E. Market St.
Sandusky, OH 44870
(419) 621-0282

Cost:
$20 gets infinite proxies

Special:
Planar Chaos will be legal!

First prize is a Mox Ruby, and I hope we’ll get enough people to have multiple prize levels, which we will if we get more than 20 or so participants.

The weather’s turning a corner and looks like it will be pretty clear on Sunday, so c’mon up and join us for the Ruby jamboree! I’m looking forward to a decent turnout and to a fine (Mox winning?) performance by UB Fish 2k7.

Good luck, and I’ll see you there.