Decklog #4: Golgari Airship

Introduction

It has been over a month since the release of Lorwyn, and the format has shifted significantly. The Pro Tour introduced a wave of new decks, ending the dominance of Cub and establishing a more balanced metagame.

I spent most of this month focused on Limited in preparation for GP Toronto, which was a lot of fun despite not placing well.

This decklog marks a shift in direction for the deck. Many of the top decks in the current format are A+B decks that rely on assembling two pieces to create powerful interactions, whether it's Talent plus Monument or Kavaero plus Deceit. Playing a "fair" midrange gameplan is no longer sufficient against these strategies. As a result, I've been maindecking hand disruption to attack these decks before they can assemble their pieces.

State of the Deck

The deck is performing well, but the current metagame has introduced some polarizing matchups. Hand disruption has improved a lot of matchups that used to be worse, so I'd still recommend the deck as long as the field isn't dominated by Elementals.

Sultai Reanimator

Wistfulness has given many decks access to efficient enchantment interaction, making it much easier to deal with Obsessive Pursuit. Since Pursuit is central to the deck's gameplan, this has been a significant hit. Sultai Reanimator in particular has become a much worse matchup post-Lorwyn.

Elementals

The Elemental deck presents similar challenges, with the added problem of Sunderflock and Roaming Throne. Removing early creatures is critical to slowing them down, but it can be extremely hard to win if they get set up.

Dimir Excruciator

This deck has been a good matchup. Obsessive Pursuit provides a steady source of card advantage that often goes unchallenged, as they typically lack clean interaction for it. Post-board, graveyard hate, hand disruption, and Torpor Orb make assembling their combo significantly harder. Airship has also been difficult for them to answer cleanly, which allows you to close games once you stabilize.

Dimir Control

This is a much more straightforward matchup compared to white-based control decks due to the lack of Ultima. Without a hard reset, Airship as a primary gameplan becomes significantly stronger. They don't have strong answers to several of your key pieces, which allows you to play a patient long game and eventually overwhelm them.

Rakdos Discard

Rakdos Discard has been an excellent matchup. They can have aggressive starts, but the deck runs out of gas quickly. They also don't run much removal, so it's easier to turn the corner with a lifelink creature.

Izzet Lessons

Izzet Lessons is now one of the best matchups. The most popular version has moved away from Stormchaser's Talent, making the matchup much less volatile.

Azorius Flash

This matchup was difficult before, but it has improved significantly with the deck changes. It's now even to favorable, as hand disruption helps play around their interaction. Information is so valuable in flash matchups, which allows you to play around the opponents interaction favorably.

Izzet Prowess

This deck has surprised me with how powerful it is. It can be very explosive, and I've died out of nowhere to it a few times. This is another reason I've added Pawpatch Formation, as it can kill Slickshot Showoff and destroy a Talent in response to Boomerang Basics.

Landfall

This is the matchup where hand disruption shines. Landfall has must-answer threats that are hard to deal with profitably once they hit the battlefield. The matchup is closer to even now, although it is still slightly unfavorable.

Changes

Leaning into Hand Disruption

The Standard metagame has a lot of combos and powerful threats that have a massive impact when they hit the battlefield. As a non-blue midrange deck, hand disruption is the primary tool to deal with these threats. I previously avoided maindecking these effects because they weren't synergistic with the deck's strategy, but they are extremely good in the current format.

Deepcavern Bat

Deepcavern Bat pairs well with Pursuit, since it already has lifelink for the counters. It's an excellent disruption piece, especially in matchups with low removal. I've been liking it against Landfall in particular, which has an extremely powerful win condition in Sapling Nursery but little to no removal.

Intimidation Tactics

Intimidation Tactics is essentially Thoughtseize in the current format. Being able to exile key cards like Deceit from the opponent's hand is a huge advantage.

Mana Base Changes

The mana base has been significantly reworked with the addition of shocklands. Brave the Wilds is no longer necessary now that the mana is much more consistent.

There's also space for a utility land. I'm currently on Demolition Field to deal with Restless Reef and Ba Sing Se, which can be problematic in certain matchups.

The deck has mostly lost the ability to cast Day of Judgment from hand. Starting Town made that possible, but it's a small sacrifice for a much more consistent mana base.

Keen-Eyed Curator

Keen-Eyed Curator is graveyard hate that addresses the gap left by Ghost Vacuum. With Wistfulness being popular in Reanimator, Ghost Vacuum is no longer viable. Being a creature is a huge advantage here.

Torpor Orb

Torpor Orb is solid against ETB-heavy decks. I've had success with it against Azorius Flash and am experimenting with it against Elementals. The issue there is that it also stops evoke sacrifices, which allows the opponent to simply play them out and attack. Even then, it may still be worth it.

Pawpatch Formation

Pawpatch Formation replaces Wear Down as a more flexible option. There are also a lot of flying threats from Izzet Prowess and Clarion Conqueror decks that this card is good against. You lose artifact coverage, but enchantments are currently more relevant.

Llanowar Elves

Llanowar Elves have been part of the deck since its inception, but with the pivot toward hand disruption, they had to be cut. Not being able to tap for black has been the biggest issue. If they were Elves of Deep Shadow, they would likely still be in the deck.

Ruinous Waterbending

Ruinous Waterbending was a meta call for Cub's dominance, which worked well at the time. With Cub strategies being tamed, it's no longer necessary.

Other Cards I Tested

Goldvein Hydra

Goldvein Hydra works well with Obsessive Pursuit and has a strong stat line. The problem is that it's too easy to answer without triggering the death effect. If it gets exiled or stunned, you get nothing.

Springleaf Drum

I tried Springleaf Drum in place of Elves alongside Edge Rover. The idea was to have more fodder for Beseech and move away from mana dorks. In practice, it didn't feel good and didn't synergize well with Badgermole Cub. I explored it further in a different shell,Jund Biotech.

Accumulated Knowledge

I wrote a separate article on Load Bearing Beseech, which covers how my thinking on the toolbox approach has evolved. The short version is that Beseech can only do one thing at a time, and every silver bullet you tutor for is an Airship you're not tutoring for.

I've also been thinking more about symmetric effects like board wipes and Torpor Orb, and when these effects can work in a deck that is also hurt by the symmetry. Will write an article on it soon.

The changes I've made have impacted the mana curve of the deck, since there are way more 2 drops and less mana dorks. I'm often holding cub to be played on turn 3 to take advantage the mana right away. This play pattern has felt good when I don't have a Gene Pollinator and DeepCavern Bat on turn 2 has felt like a good way to disrupt the opponent. The deck has slowed down a bit, but it has also gained the tools to slow down the opponent.

The one drawback of this curve is that the deck is much more reliant on the third land drop and missing it can feel really bad.

When it comes to sideboarding, I've always been fine doing it in the moment, but I've struggled to write down a concrete plan. I'm often trimming Llanowar Elves and Sentinel of the Nameless City when they're not ideal in the matchup which brings into question whether they belong in the deck or not. I've finally come to the conclusion that they are, as they act in a way as redundancy to their effect.

I think of Llanowar Elves as the 5th and 6th copy of a mana dork, alongside Gene Pollinator. Mana dorks are important in the deck to help accelerate and work really well with Badgermole Cub, however when bringing in other effects, I have to trim so that the core of the deck remains intact.

Similarly, Sentinel of the Nameless City is copies 4-5 of Mutagen Man, and in many cases those effects need to be trimmed.

Next Steps

I’m still figuring out how many Thoughtseize effects I actually want in certain matchups. It’s easy to overboard them, especially against combo or synergy decks where they feel essential. I’ve definitely brought in too many at times. Lately, I’ve been trying to calibrate that instinct better and be more disciplined about how much disruption I actually need versus how much I just want.

I wasn’t able to play RC Vancouver, but I’m still planning on competing in store championships and RCQs. TMNT looks like it could bring meaningful upgrades to the deck, especially Mutagen Man, Living Ooze, so I’m interested to see how the archetype evolves from here.

If you have any questions or want to discuss the deck, feel free to join the Discord.