Villainous Wealth destroys my Abzan build, what do?
Deck Help forum
Posted on Nov. 26, 2014, 11:04 p.m. by alulien
So I've been running my Abzan build, Rhino of the Solemn Heroes, which is a lot of fun but folds to Villainous Wealth. If I don't get extremely lucky with early creatures cheap, and lucky again that they draw no removal (in Sultai colors...) I'm pretty much a dead man walking. Last Standard tourney I went 2-2 (2x 0-2 losses to Wealth decks, 2-0 Jeskai burn and 2-1 UB control) both Wealth builds run Kiora, Garruk, and threats like Sagu Mauler and Siege Rhino (one is 4 colors).
Outside of fortuitous Thoughtseizes the only thing I've been able to come up with is Aegis of the Gods which is pretty fragile and quite narrow. Stain the Mind seems like an option, but it's somewhat expensive and not something I'd want to run more than 1 or 2 of in the side.
What does the TO community think is my best bet? I'm open to dropping 3x Drown in Sorrow and/or 2x Utter End from the side and with convincing would drop the 2x Despise as well.
Counter magic in the sideboard is always an option. Stubborn Denial
November 27, 2014 12:02 a.m.
Dalektable says... #4
Personally I'm just happy this is an issue you are having. I love Villainous Wealth so much, and Garruk lol.
November 27, 2014 12:05 a.m.
Over the weekend I was at SCG Richmond and got pushed into the draw bracket by the Abzan mirror where I prompted faced down Villainous Wealth twice. One match was a close loss and the other I won.
Depending on the exact nature of their build Stain the Mind is really really good. Against the all-in Dictate of Karametra version there's basically no other win conditions in their deck.
Small sweepers can be good against the deck. Just knocking them of their mana dorks can really slow down how much they can get you with Villainous Wealth. A big sweeper like Duneblast can also be one of the few things that might get you back in the game after a large Villainous Wealth. It seems odd to bring in a card that they could flip to Villainous Wealth, but if they are Villainous Wealth for seven you're basically dead any ways.
You're the aggressive deck in this case. Anything you can bring out of the sideboard to keep the pressure up is good to have.
This is a match-up that you want to mulligan for a good hand. Some removal spells and an Elspeth, Sun's Champion just isn't going to cut it. You want some early pressure and interaction.
November 27, 2014 1:31 a.m.
Great points, Slycne. In both matches I brought in 2x Fleecemane Lion from the side for 8 total aggressive 2 drops (incl. Rakshasa Deathdealer) and that helped a lot. Elspeth, Sun's Champion came out, always. I unfortunately didn't draw into any of my sided Bile Blight or Drown in Sorrow to help with dorks in either of the FIVE!!! matches. :(
Although adding the most powerful card in Magic, Island, is tempting, I think I'm going to see what happens with a few Stain the Mind thrown in the side.
November 27, 2014 1:51 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #9
The ideal solution would be to play modern.
Try to cut them off of mana, and also Stain the Mind is useful. Play your stuff before they do.
abenz419 says... #2
Stain the Mind is a good option.. it will exile it from everywhere except the battlefield and it has convoke so it can be cast earlier than the 5 mana indicates, although the convoke is probably more useful in a deck like yours that has mystics and caryatids making a turn 3 Stain possible. However, they aren't trying to cast Villainous Wealth for 2 or 3 so you have time to play it.
November 26, 2014 11:27 p.m.