Deadguy Ale

General Plan#

Deadguy Ale and B/W Control are similar matchups. They’re both black-based midrange/control decks that share the same fundamental tools: discard, removal, and a steady (though not lightning-fast) clock.

They share these key elements:

• discard, like Duress, Cabal Therapy, or Gerrard’s Verdict;
• creature removal, like Swords to Plowshares, Smother, Vendetta, or edict effects;
• permanent removal, like Disenchant;
• a more or less significant clock;
• post-board hate against the graveyard, activated abilities, or Survival.

The main difference compared to blue decks is that these decks cannot counter your spells. This is a huge point. When you cast Survival of the Fittest, Hermit Druid, Volrath’s Shapeshifter, or a utility creature, you know that spell will resolve.

The problem is different: you don’t know whether it will stay in play.

If you play Survival, the opponent can have Disenchant. If you play Hermit Druid, they can have Swords to Plowshares, Smother, Vendetta, or an edict. If you go through the graveyard, post-board they can have Phyrexian Furnace, Tormod’s Crypt, or Withered Wretch.

So the matchup isn’t “free,” but the fact that your spells resolve gives you a slight structural advantage.

The Key Principle#

Against these decks you have to try to resolve the right spell at the moment when the opponent’s interaction against that specific spell is at its minimum.

You shouldn’t only ask:

“Can I play Survival?”

but rather:

“Can the opponent’s hand beat Survival?”

Or:

“Is Hermit Druid the right plan, or am I walking into a Swords?”

These matchups reward the ability to read the opponent’s hand and pick the right axis.

If the opponent has creature removal but no enchantment answer, Survival becomes the best plan. If the opponent has Disenchant but no creature removal, Hermit Druid can be the correct line. If the opponent only has discard and pressure, sometimes all you need is to draw a high-impact piece and force the game.

Duress and Cabal Therapy#

In these matchups Duress is often even more important than Cabal Therapy.

In general you shouldn’t sideboard in too many discard spells against decks that already run discard, because you risk entering a resource war where both hands empty out. But Duress has a special value: it gives you precise information.

And information is fundamental.

Imagine you have both Hermit Druid and Survival of the Fittest in hand, without knowing what the opponent has.

In the abstract, Survival is often the safer plan, because there’s less interaction against Survival than against Hermit Druid. On top of that, Survival can generate value even if the game goes longer.

But you have no certainty.

If you cast Duress and see Disenchant, you understand that the best plan is probably Hermit Druid. If you see Swords to Plowshares, you understand that Survival is much safer. If you see both, you have to figure out which line you can protect, which card you can strip, and which plan loses to the fewest interactions.

This is why Duress is so valuable: it guarantees to strip a card and it lets you choose the right plan.

Survival vs Hermit Druid#

Survival of the Fittest#

Survival is often very strong against these decks.

If it isn’t removed immediately, it lets you generate value, find utility creatures, build alternative lines, and adapt to the board. Against non-blue decks, a resolved Survival can immediately start converting creatures in hand into concrete resources.

The problem is that many versions have access to enchantment removal: Disenchant, Seal of Cleansing and Aura of Silence are what do you have to expect from B/W decks.

So Survival is strong, but you shouldn’t always treat it as a card destined to stay in play. If you can use it right away to gain value or build a line, you should.

Hermit Druid#

Hermit Druid is more exposed to removal, but it can close quickly and punish opponent’s hands that are too slow or too oriented against Survival.

Against Deadguy Ale and B/W Control you mostly have to respect Swords to Plowshares. You should also consider black removal and edict effects.

Hermit is particularly good when you know the opponent has no immediate removal, or when you can force it at a moment when their hand has already been emptied by discard.

The point isn’t to always choose Survival or always Hermit. The point is to figure out which of the two plans goes through fewer answers in that specific game.

Deadguy Ale#

Deadguy Ale is the more aggressive version of this category.

It can apply pressure fairly early with efficient creatures and discard. A sequence like land, discard, threat can force you to play faster than you would against pure B/W Control.

Its creatures are often small or medium, so post-board Pyroclasm is particularly interesting against Deadguy Ale, because many of those have toughness 2. Even Exalted Angel while morphed is a 2/2, so it can be hit before flipping.

Against Deadguy, you want to avoid wasting too much time. The opponent’s discard can dismantle your hand, and the clock can become relevant and fast if they have a Dark Ritual.

Post-board, you should consider:

• creature removal;
• possibly Pyroclasm;
• answers to artifacts or enchantments if you’ve seen hate;
• keeping enough combo pieces to avoid becoming a deck that’s too reactive.

B/W Control#

B/W Control is slower, but often has more interaction in hand.

What you should expect that’s different from DGA? Maindeck graveyard hate, sweepers and general heavier control effects.

Against B/W Control, the game can go longer and is often played on the quality of resources. Here Survival is very strong if it stays in play, but you always have to respect Disenchant.

Phyrexian Arena is a card not to underestimate. If it stays in play for several turns, it lets the opponent find more discard, removal, and hate. For this reason, post-board enchantment removal can be valuable beyond just protecting against Disenchant or lock permanents.

Why the Matchup Is Favorable#

These matchups are often considered sufficiently favorable precisely because the opponent doesn’t run counters.

The fact that your spells resolve changes a lot. This means you can set up lines where a key spell, once cast, isn’t stopped on the stack or force the opponent to already have the right answer in hand or to draw it in the following turns.

This is the main limit of non-blue decks: they can’t dig as much as blue decks to find the perfect interaction. They have to rely on what they have in hand or on natural topdecks.

If their hand isn’t redundant, a single discard spell from you can win the game. If you strip the only Swords, the only Disenchant, or the only hate piece, you can often follow the plan you’d chosen without fearing further immediate interaction.

Why You Can Still Lose#

Even though the matchup is favorable, it’s very easy to lose if you pick the wrong plan.

You can lose because:

• you keep a hand that’s too fragile against discard;
• you play Survival into Disenchant without capitalizing on it;
• your hand gets emptied and you don’t draw a payoff;
• you underestimate a creature clock;
• you lose to post-board hate like Crypt, Furnace, or Cursed Totem.

These decks don’t do anything particularly “unfair,” but they’re good at trading resources. If you help them by picking the wrong line, they can drag you into a messy game where it becomes hard to rebuild.

Post-Sideboard#

Post-board you have to expect more hate.

The most common cards are:

• Phyrexian Furnace;
• Tormod’s Crypt;
• Cursed Totem;
• additional Disenchant;
• more removal.

For this reason you want to have access to versatile answers:

• Naturalize;
• Ray of Revelation;
• Monk Realist;
• Uktabi Orangutan;
• creature removal like Githu Slinger or Swords to Plowshares.

Artifact answers are important because Crypt, Furnace, and Cursed Totem can be very annoying. Uktabi Orangutan is particularly useful because it’s tutorable with Survival and can remove a hate piece while leaving a body on board.

Enchantment answers are useful against Phyrexian Arena and other problematic cards.