Premodern Deadguy Ale Deck Guide (2026)
Premodern Deadguy Ale is a black-white midrange deck that empties the opponent's hand and wins the long game with Phyrexian Arena and Exalted Angel. Duress, Gerrard's Verdict and Hypnotic Specter make them discard, and Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate answer the board. It is a rare deck on MTGTop8, 31 of about 8,200 lists since April (0.4 percent), and its biggest results since then are Tommaso Salvatori's win in the final of the Lega La Contea in Rolo, Italy (32 players, July), and Michael Huber's top eight at the 4Seasons Spring Edition in Bologna (156 players, June).
How the deck wins
- The early turns go after the hand. Duress takes their best noncreature, nonland card and shows you the rest of their hand. Gerrard's Verdict then makes them discard two cards, but they choose which, so it hits hardest when their hand is small or full of lands, and you gain 3 life for each land card discarded. A turn-one Hypnotic Specter cast with Dark Ritual makes them discard a card at random each time it deals damage to them.
- Swords to Plowshares exiles a creature for one mana and Vindicate destroys any permanent; about half the lists since April add a main-deck Disenchant, and more than half Smother or Death Grasp. Four of five lists play Wasteland, which together with Vindicate can keep a two- or three-color deck off its colors: use them on lands when Duress has shown a hand that needs a missing color or the opponent has missed a land drop.
- The deck is built for the long game. Phyrexian Arena draws an extra card in each of your upkeeps for 1 life, and Exalted Angel gains you life equal to the damage it deals. The flexible slots decide the build: Nantuko Shade for pressure, Withered Wretch for graveyard hate, Graveborn Muse for more cards, and in a few lists Masticore, Skeletal Scrying, Knight of Stromgald, Desolation Angel or Decree of Justice.
Core cards
- 4 Duress
- 4 Swords to Plowshares
- 4 Dark Ritual
- 4 Hypnotic Specter
- 4 Vindicate
- 4 Gerrard's Verdict
- 4 Exalted Angel
- 3 Phyrexian Arena
- 2 Withered Wretch
- 3 Nantuko Shade
- 2 Disenchant
- 4 Caves of Koilos
- 3 Tainted Field
- 3 Wasteland
Key cards
- Duress: In every list, almost always four copies. It takes a noncreature, nonland card, so creatures and lands stay in their hand, and it shows you whether Specter, Arena or Angel is safe to cast. After Duress you also know which cards they can keep against Gerrard's Verdict, since they choose its two discards.
- Hypnotic Specter: In all but one list since April. Cast with Dark Ritual on turn one, it is a 2/2 flier that makes them discard a card at random each time it deals damage to them, so an attack that is blocked or prevented takes nothing. It dies to Smother, Fire // Ice, Pyroclasm and most other removal, so its first hits matter most.
- Vindicate: Three mana to destroy any permanent, lands included, at sorcery speed. Protection from black or from white stops it, since Vindicate is both colors, and so do shroud and regeneration: Akroma, Angel of Wrath, a creature that Mother of Runes protects in response and the enchantments under Sterling Grove are the usual examples. With Wasteland, in four of five lists, it also attacks their mana.
- Gerrard's Verdict: Two cards for two mana, and you gain 3 life for each land card discarded this way. The discarding player chooses the two cards, so a full hand keeps its best spells, while a hand of two cards or fewer loses everything. Cast on yourself, it turns two spare lands into 6 life. It is weak against Madness, Reanimator, Replenish, Full English Breakfast and Fluctuator: madness cards are cast cheaply when discarded, and the other four want cards in their graveyard.
- Phyrexian Arena: In almost every list, usually three copies: an extra card in each of your upkeeps for 1 life. Against control, cast Arena before your next creature: a lone Specter trades with one removal spell, while Arena has to be stopped by a counterspell or discard, or destroyed by Disenchant or Vindicate.
- Exalted Angel: Cast face down as a 2/2 for three mana and turned face up for {2}{W}{W}, usually on turn four, it is a 4/5 flier that gains you life equal to the damage it deals, so an unblocked attack moves the life totals eight points apart. You can turn it face up whenever you have priority, even in response, so keep {2}{W}{W} open when they aim burn or Smother at the face-down 2/2. It is the main way back against burn and fast aggro, unless Sulfuric Vortex stops the lifegain.
- Nantuko Shade: In about half the lists: a two-mana 2/1 that gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each {B} you spend, so every black source drawn late adds damage. It punishes a control deck that taps out. Swords to Plowshares and Smother kill it, but with black mana open it survives burn, Fire // Ice and Pyroclasm by growing in response.
- Withered Wretch: In the main deck of more than half the lists and in the sideboard of most others: a 2/2 that exiles one target card from a graveyard for {1} of any color, as often as you can pay. Against Reanimator, Replenish and Psychatog it picks the cards their plan needs, one at a time, so a Replenish for several enchantments or a graveyard full of creatures can still outrun it; against Madness it takes flashback cards and Wonder, but not a madness card, which is cast from exile.
Mulligan guide
Keep
- A black source, a white source and something to cast on turns one and two: Swamp and a land that makes white (Plains, Caves of Koilos, or Tainted Field next to the Swamp) with Duress and Gerrard's Verdict is the typical keep.
- Swamp, Dark Ritual and Hypnotic Specter with a second land and something to cast next. The turn-one Specter is the deck's best start, so this hand can be kept with less around it.
- Three lands with Duress, Vindicate and Exalted Angel against control: slow, but each card answers or takes one of theirs, and the Angel ends the game.
Ship
- Hands without black mana, or with Tainted Field plus Wasteland as the only lands. Tainted Field taps for colorless freely but produces white or black only while you control a Swamp, so that pair casts nothing.
- One land without Dark Ritual, or several four-mana cards with no early interaction.
- Removal-only hands against unknown opponents, multiple Phyrexian Arenas against Sligh, and anything that depends entirely on one Hypnotic Specter surviving.
In game one, keep a black source, a white source and at least one spell for the first two turns. A slow hand is fine, since most cards trade one for one, but a hand that casts nothing on turns one and two is not.
Play tips and sequencing
- Against Goblins, Sligh, Elves and Madness you are the control deck, and your life total matters more than early damage. Against Tron, Replenish and slow combo you have to attack, because their late game is stronger than yours and one-for-one trades only delay it.
- Cast Duress before Gerrard's Verdict: it shows the hand and takes the best noncreature, nonland card, so you know what Verdict can still hit and whether a threat is safe. Without a turn-one Specter, the usual line is Duress on turn one, Gerrard's Verdict on turn two and Specter or Arena on turn three.
- Against Madness, Reanimator, Replenish, Full English Breakfast and Fluctuator, discard can help them: madness cards are cast when discarded, and the others want cards in their graveyard. Against the graveyard decks, Withered Wretch on the battlefield with mana open makes Verdict safer; a discarded madness card goes to exile and is cast from there, so against Madness cast Verdict only when you know their hand or when it takes their last cards.
- Wasteland, in four of five lists, makes only colorless mana. The deck needs two black mana for Specter, Shade and Wretch, white and black for Verdict and Vindicate, and {2}{W}{W} to turn Angel face up, so before you sacrifice a Wasteland, check that you can still cast your own spells on time.
- Against Wrath of God, Pernicious Deed and Akroma's Vengeance, play one threat at a time: a lone Specter or Angel may already draw the sweeper, and the next one comes down after it. Deed and Vengeance also destroy Phyrexian Arena. In the few lists with Decree of Justice, cycle it after the sweeper.
- When several creatures are on the battlefield, point Swords to Plowshares first at the one that draws or finds cards, such as Shadowmage Infiltrator or a Rebel searcher, and later at a bigger creature that just attacks.
- Caves of Koilos, City of Brass, Phyrexian Arena, Graveborn Muse and Skeletal Scrying all cost life, so against Sligh and RG Zoo count the damage before you use them. Sulfuric Vortex stops the lifegain of Exalted Angel and of a Gerrard's Verdict cast on yourself.
Matchups
- Stiflenought (slightly favorable): Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate and Disenchant answer Dreadnought, and so does Smother in the lists that play it; Duress takes Stifle or Vision Charm before it can protect anything. Do not tap out while they can deploy with protection, and note that Decree of Justice, where you play it, is less reliable here because Stifle can counter the cycling trigger.
- Goblins (unfavorable): A Goblin Lackey that connects puts more onto the battlefield than one-for-one removal can keep up with, Ringleader wins the long game, and game one has no true sweeper unless your list plays Wrath of God. As the control deck, spend Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate on Goblin Lackey, Goblin Warchief and Goblin Sharpshooter, because Goblin Ringleader and Goblin Matron have already found their cards once they are on the battlefield, and turn Exalted Angel face up on turn four: it blocks and gains life faster than small Goblins can attack. After boarding, Engineered Plague naming Goblin, Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth improve it a lot, but do not keep a slow hand just because it contains a turn-three Plague. Very limited data: 20 percent over 5 matches.
- Sligh (unfavorable before boarding, closer afterward): Game one your own cards hurt: Caves of Koilos, Phyrexian Arena and, in some lists, City of Brass all cost life while they burn you. Exalted Angel is the best way back, unless Sulfuric Vortex is out. After board Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth, in most sideboards, can swing it, and extra Disenchant effects matter against Sulfuric Vortex and Cursed Scroll. Gerrard's Verdict on yourself turns two spare lands into 6 life, though not through Vortex. MTGDecks: 50 percent over 14 matches, very limited data.
- Enchantress (slightly unfavorable): Duress, Vindicate and Disenchant, main deck in about half your lists, give you game-one interaction, but Sterling Grove gives their other enchantments shroud, so your targeted answers have to take the Grove first, and Solitary Confinement gives them shroud against your discard and prevents all damage to them. Take cards from their hand early, since Confinement costs them a discard every upkeep. Elephant Grass, main deck in about half their lists, stops your black creatures from attacking, and Wasteland can destroy Serra's Sanctum. After board Dystopia, in the lists that play it, forces a sacrifice every upkeep without targeting, and Aura of Silence taxes their enchantments by two. MTGDecks: 20 percent over 10 matches, very limited data.
- Landstill (slightly favorable to even): Duress, Phyrexian Arena and, where you play it, Graveborn Muse give you the long game, and Exalted Angel is your best threat, though their Swords to Plowshares, Wrath of God and, in about half their lists, Humility answer it. Do not break Standstill without a reason, answer Mishra's Factory with Swords or Wasteland, deploy threats one at a time, and use discard to protect Arena from their Disenchant; in the lists with Decree of Justice, cycle it in their end step after they have spent mana. Do not spend Vindicate on a lone Factory when a bigger permanent may still appear. No match data.
- Replenish (unfavorable, draw-dependent): You have Duress, Vindicate and, in more than half your lists, Withered Wretch in the main deck, and Tormod's Crypt and more enchantment removal after boarding, but a fast Replenish draw still beats you. Take Replenish with Duress first, then Intuition, then Abeyance or a counterspell. Gerrard's Verdict helps them, since they choose the two discards and Replenish returns them, and the Wretch is best saved for Opalescence and Parallax Wave in their graveyard. Very limited data: 0 percent over 5 matches.
- Elves (even before boarding, favorable afterward): Game one is about controlling mana creatures and engine pieces: Priest of Titania, Survival of the Fittest and Wirewood Symbiote come before the bigger bodies. Exalted Angel flies over their board and only their Birds of Paradise can block it, and Wasteland goes after Gaea's Cradle. Their Masticore shoots Hypnotic Specter and Withered Wretch, and Gerrard's Verdict lets them choose what to discard, often a Squee that comes back. After board Engineered Plague naming Elf and Perish are a large upgrade, and a few lists add Wrath of God or Dystopia. No match data.
- Terrageddon (unfavorable): Your answers are one-for-one, and when Gerrard's Verdict makes them discard, they choose the cards: lands grow their Terravore but give you 3 life each. Armageddon hurts a deck that wants three and four mana for Exalted Angel and Phyrexian Arena on a two-color land base. Withered Wretch shrinking Terravore and an early Angel race are your best angles. No meaningful match data.
- MUD (even): Duress takes Tinker, Vindicate and Disenchant destroy lock pieces, Withered Wretch exiles the artifacts Goblin Welder wants back, and Wasteland, where you play it, hits a mana base of Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors and Rishadan Port. But Exalted Angel and Phyrexian Arena want mana that Tangle Wire and Winter Orb deny, and Triskelion kills a Hypnotic Specter or a Withered Wretch. The red lists with Covetous Dragon add Wildfire, which takes four lands from each player and deals 4 damage to every creature. Very limited data.
- Full English Breakfast (unfavorable): No counterspells, so the question is which engine you can still beat once it resolves. Duress takes Survival of the Fittest and Vindicate destroys it, Swords to Plowshares answers Hermit Druid, and Withered Wretch exiles the creature card on top of their graveyard. Gerrard's Verdict is weak here: they choose what to discard and put creature cards into their graveyard for Shapeshifter. After boarding Engineered Plague naming Druid kills Hermit Druid, Perish destroys their green creatures, and Tormod's Crypt and Phyrexian Furnace exile the graveyard their combo needs; expect Uktabi Orangutan against your artifacts and Auramancer to rebuy a destroyed Survival. No meaningful match data.
- Stasis (unfavorable): Duress, Vindicate and Hypnotic Specter are your best cards: take or destroy Stasis before the lock settles. Exalted Angel needs four mana to turn face up, which is hard under Stasis. Bring extra Disenchant and Seal of Cleansing, which is sacrificed without mana. No meaningful match data.
- Mono Black (even): A resource mirror: both decks open with Duress and Hypnotic Specter, and your Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, Exalted Angel and Gerrard's Verdict are the edge. Protect Phyrexian Arena from their discard, keep their Specter from connecting, and expect Gloom after boarding, which makes your white spells cost three more. Very limited data: 50 percent over 6 matches.
- The Rock (slightly unfavorable): Pernicious Deed answers your creatures and Phyrexian Arena at once, and their Recurring Nightmare out-grinds one-for-one removal. Save Vindicate for Deed and cast it when they are tapped out, since they can activate Deed in response with whatever mana they have open. Recurring Nightmare goes back to their hand as soon as they activate it, so Vindicate cannot reach it; exile its target in response with Withered Wretch or Tormod's Crypt, which also break up their graveyard loops. No match data.
- UG Madness (even to slightly unfavorable): Wild Mongrel and Aquamoeba are free discard outlets, so your Gerrard's Verdict mostly hands them cheap madness spells, and Arrogant Wurm plus Roar of the Wurm and Deep Analysis out-tempo one-for-one removal. Keep Withered Wretch for Roar, Deep Analysis and Wonder, and cast Verdict only when they cannot profit from it. After boarding, Perish destroys every green creature they have. No match data.
- Oath of Druids (even): Vindicate and your main-deck Disenchant decide game one; do not cast a creature into an active Oath unless you can answer the Oath first. Swords to Plowshares answers Terravore and Withered Wretch shrinks it. After boarding bring Seal of Cleansing, Tormod's Crypt and Aura of Silence. Dystopia, in the few lists that play it, makes them sacrifice a green or white permanent in each of their upkeeps without targeting, but it makes you sacrifice your own white permanents too. Their Wasteland and Rishadan Port slow your Dark Ritual starts. No match data.
- Psychatog (even to slightly favorable): Duress, Gerrard's Verdict and Hypnotic Specter attack their hand, and Withered Wretch keeps Psychatog small and exiles Accumulated Knowledge from their graveyard, or Deep Analysis in the lists that play it before they can flash it back. Hold Swords to Plowshares for the Tog and cast it in response to a pump, since the cards they discarded or exiled for it are already gone; Vindicate is a sorcery and only answers it on your own turn. Their Smother kills Hypnotic Specter, Withered Wretch, Nantuko Shade and a face-down Exalted Angel, so keep {2}{W}{W} open to turn the Angel face up in response. Phyrexian Arena draws you an extra card every turn in a long game. No match data.
- Reanimator (slightly favorable): Your game one is full of interaction: Duress, Withered Wretch, Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate, and Disenchant, main deck in about half your lists, destroys Animate Dead, which takes its creature with it. Of your removal only Swords answers Akroma, Angel of Wrath: she has protection from black, so Vindicate and Smother cannot target her. Gerrard's Verdict is risky here, since they choose the discards and can put a creature into their graveyard, and Exhume also returns your dead Exalted Angel. A very fast reanimation draw still punishes a slow hand. After boarding bring Tormod's Crypt and Perish, which kills Phantom Nishoba and Verdant Force. No match data.
- Tron (even to slightly unfavorable): Vindicate, Duress and Wasteland, in four of five of your lists, buy time: their Urza lands are nonbasic, so destroy the one they are least likely to replace. Use that time to attack with Hypnotic Specter, Nantuko Shade or Exalted Angel, because once their mana is online, Decree of Justice and Stroke of Genius win the long game. Duress takes Mana Leak, Prohibit or Miscalculation before you cast Phyrexian Arena, and expect Wrath of God, Disenchant and Masticore, which shoots Specter and Withered Wretch and regenerates against Vindicate. No match data.
- Clerics (even before boarding, favorable afterward): Save Swords to Plowshares for Scion of Darkness, which Dark Supplicant can put onto the battlefield as early as turn two, and for Rotlung Reanimator and Cabal Archon rather than the small Clerics. After boarding Engineered Plague naming Cleric kills Dark Supplicant and Priest of Gix, but each one that dies with Rotlung on the battlefield leaves a 2/2 Zombie, and Plague also shrinks your own Withered Wretch, a Zombie Cleric. Their Smother kills Hypnotic Specter, Nantuko Shade and a face-down Exalted Angel, Snuff Out kills the Angel, and after boarding Gloom makes your white spells cost three more. No match data.
- The Solution (even): Meddling Mage naming Swords to Plowshares or Vindicate takes away one of your answers, and Mother of Runes protects their creatures, so kill Mother before she can use her ability. Your Exalted Angel blocks Lightning Angel, and Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth come in against their burn. Engineered Plague naming Cleric, in almost every sideboard, kills Mother of Runes without targeting, and Dystopia, in a few, makes them sacrifice a white permanent in each of their upkeeps, though it hits your own Exalted Angel too. No match data.
- Dromar Control (even to slightly unfavorable): Their removal, Mana Leak, Exalted Angels, Shadowmage Infiltrator and Meddling Mage give them the stronger late game, so attack without overextending. Cast Duress first, use Wasteland, in four of five of your lists, on their painlands and Dromar's Cavern, and play one threat at a time into Dromar's Charm, Diabolic Edict and, in about a third of their lists, Wrath of God. Your black creatures can block Shadowmage Infiltrator. No match data.
- Aluren (favorable): Discard is strong here: Duress takes Aluren, or Survival of the Fittest in the lists that play it, and Hypnotic Specter and Gerrard's Verdict take more cards, though they choose the Verdict discards. Vindicate and Disenchant, main deck in about half your lists, destroy a resolved Aluren, but with Cavern Harpy and the other loop pieces in hand they can win in response, since Aluren lets them cast those creatures with flash. After boarding Engineered Plague naming Beast kills Cavern Harpy as it enters, which breaks the loop, and Aura of Silence makes Aluren cost two more. Aluren works for you too: your Specters, Shades and Wretches become free. No match data.
- Zombies (slightly favorable): Their one-drops race well, but Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate and Exalted Angel, which gains back every point it deals, blunt the swarm, and Nantuko Shade blocks a lord-pumped 3/3. Watch your life total: Caves of Koilos, Phyrexian Arena and their Shepherd of Rot all drain it. After boarding Engineered Plague naming Zombie is the key card, with the quirk that it also shrinks your own Withered Wretch and Graveborn Muse; their Gloom makes your white spells cost three more. No meaningful match data.
- White Weenie (even): Your Swords to Plowshares answers their creatures, but Vindicate is black, so Soltari Monk and White Knight shrug it off, and Hypnotic Specter cannot block shadow. Exalted Angel is in both decks, so save Swords for theirs, and Engineered Plague after boarding naming Cleric kills Mother of Runes and the Soltari Priests and Monks. No meaningful match data.
- BW Control (slightly unfavorable): The same removal on both sides, but a different plan: theirs is Wrath of God, Decree of Justice cycled in your end step and an Eternal Dragon that returns from their graveyard to their hand in their upkeep, so the long game favors them. Attack early with Hypnotic Specter cast with Dark Ritual, do not commit more than two creatures into Wrath, and use Withered Wretch on Eternal Dragon in their graveyard, at the latest in response to its ability. Phyrexian Arena is your best card; they answer it with Vindicate and, after boarding, Aura of Silence or Seal of Cleansing. Their Dust Bowl, in nine of ten lists, destroys your Caves of Koilos, Tainted Field and Wasteland. No meaningful match data.
- Gro-a-Tog (even): Duress takes a counterspell and Gerrard's Verdict two more cards of their choice, and a Hypnotic Specter cast with Dark Ritual punishes a slow start. Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate answer Quirion Dryad and Psychatog, and Withered Wretch keeps Psychatog small by exiling their graveyard. Their Fire // Ice kills Specter, Meddling Mage can name Vindicate, their counterspells stop Phyrexian Arena, and Armageddon, in about two thirds of their lists, hurts your three- and four-mana spells more than their cheap ones; after boarding Pyroclasm kills Specter and Wretch. No match data.
- Pit Rack (even): Vindicate and Disenchant answer The Rack or Bottomless Pit, and Exalted Angel gains more life than Cursed Scroll deals. Phyrexian Arena refills your hand, but in your upkeep the Rack and Pit triggers resolve before Arena's. Their Smother kills Hypnotic Specter, Nantuko Shade, Withered Wretch and a face-down Exalted Angel, and Wasteland hits your Caves of Koilos and Tainted Field. After boarding expect Gloom, which makes Swords, Vindicate and Gerrard's Verdict cost three more, and Dystopia, which makes you sacrifice a white permanent in each of your upkeeps. No meaningful match data.
- Rebels (even): Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate kill a searcher, and in the blue lists Duress takes a counterspell. The Rebels they search for never pass through their hand, so kill each searcher on your turn after it arrives, before it can tap. Whipcorder can tap Exalted Angel and their Swords to Plowshares exiles it. Mother of Runes can give a creature protection from white or from black, and either stops Vindicate. Nightwind Glider, a one-of in about half their main decks, has protection from black: it blocks Hypnotic Specter and Nantuko Shade without taking damage, and Vindicate, Smother and Death Grasp cannot target it. No match data.
- Contamination (slightly favorable): Your black cards ignore Contamination, but Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, Gerrard's Verdict and Disenchant need white mana your lands no longer make, and Exalted Angel cannot be turned face up, so take Contamination from their hand with Duress. Attack with Hypnotic Specter and Nantuko Shade, though their Smother, Innocent Blood, Powder Keg and Zombie tokens slow them down, and use Withered Wretch to exile Nether Spirit from their graveyard. Their Wasteland and Rishadan Port go after your Caves of Koilos and Tainted Field. No match data.
- Turbo Lands (slightly favorable): Vindicate and Wasteland, in four of five of your lists, answer Glacial Chasm, which otherwise prevents all damage to them, and Disenchant destroys Horn of Greed, Exploration or Seismic Assault. Duress takes their spells; Gerrard's Verdict lets them choose, and the lands they discard gain you 3 life each. Their Seismic Assault kills Hypnotic Specter and a face-down Exalted Angel, and Sacred Ground after boarding returns the lands that Vindicate or Wasteland destroys. No match data.
- Fluctuator (favorable): Duress takes Fluctuator, Songs of the Damned or a kill spell, Vindicate and Disenchant destroy Fluctuator, and Withered Wretch exiles creature cards from their graveyard for {1} each, also in response to Songs of the Damned. Gerrard's Verdict lets them choose, and they will discard creatures that feed their graveyard. With Exalted Angel's lifegain, their Drain Life or Haunting Misery needs more creature cards in their graveyard. After boarding, Gilded Light stops Duress and Verdict for a turn, and Misdirection, in every Fluctuator sideboard, can turn Vindicate or Gerrard's Verdict onto you or your own permanents. No match data.
- RG Zoo (slightly unfavorable): Zoo burns Hypnotic Specter, and Nantuko Shade while you are tapped out, and your Caves of Koilos and Phyrexian Arena cost you life, but Circle of Protection: Red and Warmth only stop the red half: Elephant tokens, Quirion Dryad and Treetop Village are green. Exalted Angel turned face up wins the race, so keep {2}{W}{W} open to turn it face up in response to their burn, and Perish after boarding destroys every green creature they have. Withered Wretch, in most of your lists, exiles Call of the Herd before its flashback, and Wasteland destroys Treetop Village. Gerrard's Verdict lets them discard Call of the Herd and flash it back later. No meaningful match data.
Sideboard guide
- vs Goblins, Elves, Clerics, Zombies, White Weenie, The Solution, Aluren and Full English Breakfast: Engineered Plague. In almost every sideboard, usually three copies: name Goblin, Elf, Cleric or Zombie, or Beast for Aluren's Cavern Harpy. Naming Cleric kills Mother of Runes in White Weenie and The Solution and the Soltari Priests and Monks of White Weenie, but against Clerics every Cleric that dies with Rotlung Reanimator on the battlefield leaves a 2/2 Zombie. Naming Cleric also shrinks your own Withered Wretch, and naming Zombie your Wretch and Graveborn Muse.
- vs Sligh, Goblins, RG Zoo and The Solution: Circle of Protection: Red, Warmth. Circle of Protection: Red is in more than four of five sideboards and Warmth in about two of three. Both work only against red, so they stop Goblins and burn but not RG Zoo's green creatures, and Sulfuric Vortex turns off Warmth's lifegain. Against Sligh take out the cards that cost life first, Phyrexian Arena, Graveborn Muse and Skeletal Scrying, and bring extra Disenchant or Seal of Cleansing once Sulfuric Vortex or Cursed Scroll is likely.
- vs Reanimator, Full English Breakfast, Replenish, Psychatog, Madness, The Rock and Oath of Druids: Tormod's Crypt, Phyrexian Furnace, Withered Wretch. Tormod's Crypt is in about four of ten sideboards since April and Phyrexian Furnace in about three. Two of three lists without a main-deck Withered Wretch keep it in the sideboard, usually three copies, and about one sideboard in five adds Planar Void, which exiles every card put into any graveyard, yours included.
- vs Enchantress, Replenish, Oath of Druids, Stasis, MUD, Aluren and Pit Rack: Disenchant, Seal of Cleansing, Aura of Silence. Most sideboards carry extra Disenchant, and about a third add Seal of Cleansing, which destroys an artifact or enchantment without mana. Aura of Silence, in a third of them, taxes their artifacts and enchantments by two and sacrifices itself to destroy one.
- vs Green creature decks: Elves, RG Zoo, UG Madness, Terrageddon, The Rock, Oath, Full English Breakfast and Reanimator: Perish. In about two thirds of the sideboards since April: destroys every green creature, and you have none.
- vs Landstill, Oath of Druids and The Rock: Tsabo's Web. In about a quarter of the sideboards since April: it draws a card and stops Mishra's Factory, Rishadan Port, Treetop Village and Dust Bowl from untapping. It also locks your own Wasteland, and Volrath's Stronghold in the few lists that play it.
- vs Enchantress, The Solution, Oath of Druids, Elves and other white or green decks: Dystopia. In a few sideboards, two since April: at the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player sacrifices a green or white permanent of their choice. It does not target, so Sterling Grove and Mother of Runes do not stop it, but it hits your own white permanents too, though a face-down Exalted Angel is colorless, and its cumulative upkeep costs 1 more life each turn.
Budget and upgrades
Typical cost: $490–$710. The reference list (Nuno Pacheco, top eight of 16 at Mulligan Premodern Diniz, September 12) costs about $710 with its sideboard at the Premodern-era printings tracked here. Three Exalted Angel are about $100 of that, two Wasteland about $95, two City of Brass about $65 and three Phyrexian Arena about $60. The core that makes the deck work, Duress, Dark Ritual, Gerrard's Verdict, Hypnotic Specter, Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate, is about $130 for all six playsets.
- Start with the playsets that never change: Duress, Dark Ritual, Gerrard's Verdict, Hypnotic Specter, Swords to Plowshares and Vindicate.
- Build the mana from Caves of Koilos, Tainted Field and basics. Wasteland, City of Brass and Gemstone Mine are upgrades; replacing them with Tainted Field and basics saves about $175.
- Add Exalted Angel and Phyrexian Arena next; they win the long games.
- Pick the flexible creatures by budget: Withered Wretch costs under $3, Nantuko Shade and Graveborn Muse about $17 to $20 each.
- In the sideboard, Engineered Plague, Circle of Protection: Red, Warmth, Perish and Seal of Cleansing are cheap; Tsabo's Web (about $24), Tormod's Crypt (about $31) and Dystopia (about $45) come last.
- That build costs about $490 with sideboard. Tommaso Salvatori won the Lega La Contea final in July with a list that plays no Wasteland, City of Brass or Gemstone Mine and costs about $520.
Every deck that costs under $500 with reprints is on our budget decks page, priced from a real tournament list.
Deadguy Ale is one of five decks in our guide to your first Premodern deck.
