BFG – a Peasant Format tribute to Jamie Wakefield

By Marcus Anderson

 

When you think of running an 8-land green deck, think of some creatures that would work well.  Thought of a couple?  My first thought was CRASH OF RHINOS!  Yep.  Why not try to cast a Crash of Rhinos (which costs 6GG) with a deck that only has eight lands?  Impossible?  Well, I dare you to put this deck together.  You will be amazed at the acceleration.

 

When Chris Morling and I got together to build common decks, we got a crazy idea to play with big trampling fatties.  We called it “the common deck Wakefield would love”.  For those who don’t know Jamie Wakefield, the King of the Fatties, he was a fantastic writer that captivated the masses with his “good guy wins the day” articles.  Personally, I wish he would get back into magic.  Perhaps he could re-surface at next year’s Masters of Peasant Magic tournament?  If he did, here is the peasant deck that he would run.

 

Anderson’s BFG (Big Fat Green)

 

Land:

8:Forest (yeah, baby!)

 

Mana Accelerators:

4:Lay of the Land

4:Wild Growth

4:Land Grant

4:Harrow

 

Creature Bases Mana Accelerators:

4:Llanowar Elves

4:Fyndhorn Elves

4:Wall of Roots

 

Utility Cards:

4:Sylvan Library

1:Regrowth

 

The Fatties:

4:Blastoderm

4:Silverglade Elemental

4:Yavimaya Wurm

4:Rootbreaker Wurm

4:Crash of Rhinos

 

Now, let us suppose that the Land Grant cards are free to cast (because you will never draw more than one land usually).  The mana curve of this deck is amazing.  The fatties in the deck are 4cc, 5cc, 6cc, 7cc, and 8cc!  Here is the breakdown of the costs:

 

Land: 12

0cc: 4

1cc: 16

2cc: 9

3cc: 4

4cc: 4

5cc: 4

6cc: 4

7cc: 4

8cc: 4

 

Ok, it still looks bad.  But TRY IT.  The synergy in the deck is amazing.  Your first few turns are spent getting the elves, Wall of Roots, and quick mana into play.  Starting on turn three, you want to be ramping up the mana ladder to play fatty.  As you play on, you drop the mana, search through your deck, and finally find the key ingredients for the Crash of Rhinos.

 

When the deck was in its infancy, it was ALL commons.  Instead of the one Regrowth and the four Sylvan Libraries, the deck contained four Skyshroud Claims.  In the all-common build, the deck had amazing acceleration, but it stalled out badly.  Under the Peasant format, the Sylvan Library is a key card.  It’s fast, reusable, and it helps cycle to the cards you need.  There are sixteen cards that make you shuffle your library (Land Grant, Lay of the Land, Harrow, and Silverglade Elemental).  When your Sylvan Library draws become stagnant, you go for a land-searcher and reshuffle.  Therefore, during your next draw, you get three new cards to look at.  The one Regrowth can let you get back your old searchers or dead Blastoderms.

 

With so many searchers, why all the work for eight land?  After you get all of the lands into play, the searchers can be used EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO LAND LEFT to find.  You can always look for land that doesn’t exist to get the free shuffle.  Presto - amazing synergy and minimal stalling power.

 

Well, how does this deck stand up to the others?  All of the big creatures have trample and come out quickly by the fourth turn consistently.  This may not be fast enough for the current Peasant metagame, but it is a blast to play.  Your opponents will act as if they are seeing a magic show.

 

“Watch me pull a Crash of Rhinos out of my deck – with only 8 lands IN THE DECK.”

 

For you, you want your opponents to leave your elves alone.  They are critical to smooth mana development.  Sometimes, the elves can be a target to keep the burn away from your head.  There is nothing better than having your opponent kill an elf with targeted removal just to have a fatty appear in the next turn or two.  Surprise.

 

Well, if Jamie Wakefield is anywhere out there – I want to send him a personal note:

 

Hey, Jamie!  How is it going?  I would love to have you play magic again.  When I sold off all of my cards, I kept my commons to get back to the “fun” of magic.  Now that Peasant magic has found a place in the community, there is a new deck calling you!  I think you will find the players of the Peasant format to be fun and creative.  The casual nature of the environment lets you play casually and have fun competitively.  I even used your Hypnotic Spectre/Unearth trick in my Peasant deck.  Please come back, Jamie.

 

Well, that plea may not work, but it was worth a shot.  In any case, have fun casting and playing “the biggest common fatties ever”!

 

If you have any questions, please contact me at marcus@card-shark.com.

 

P.S. – I am a rabid QUAKE and DOOM player – so the BFG title is a personal favorite of mine.