America! F*** Yeah!

Hello everyone!

This weekend the SCG Open series is once again coming my way for SCG Worcester! I will not be playing in FNM or Saturday's standard event, instead focusing all my time and energy into legacy. I am still trying to decide between Storm and Elves, though I think both are well positioned in the current meta. There is a deck though that I really wish I had together and had some experience playing because I think it is the perfect deck in legacy right now: Team America!

Team America is a fairly old deck that is basically BUG Tempo. In it's original version, the deck played things like Tarmogoyf and Tombstalker for threats, and then lots of mana denial with Stifle, Wasteland, and Sinkhole. Play a small counterspell suite and a little hand disruption and you have yourself a deck! A lot of new cards have come out since then and the deck has gone through many changes, although a lot of the key components are still there.

Like I said, I have no experience with this deck, so I would not be confident playing it this weekend, but I feel I am familiar enough with the archaetype to put out a well-positioned list if anyone is daring enough to give it a run! Let's look at our options:

Threats:
Tarmogoyf: Big idiot that puts the opponent under a fast clock is a staple in tempo decks
Delver of Secrets: It's no shock that a tempo deck wants this card, but the deck does have to be properly built around it
Snapcaster Mage: This guy has fallen out of favor in the current RUG builds and has been replaced by guys with a faster clock. We should be more disruptive though, so maybe we want Taigo?
Nimble Mongoose: Another staple piece in RUG Delver, is always a solid reliable threat
Vendilion Clique: I really like this card right now! A 3/1 flash for 3 is already amazing, and attacking your opponent's hand is insanely powerful!
Tombstalker: This guy hasn't play in a while, but that's more because black hasn't seen play more than he is bad. Obviously does not play well with Mongoose and Snapcaster.

Counterspells:
Spell Pierce: This card is very well positioned right now!
Spell Snare: This one not so much....
Force of Will: Obvious card is obvious
Daze: While Daze is good, I wonder if it will make the cut into the final list... It's a major tempo card, so it will probably make the cut, but the threats look like they're going to be a bit bigger, so mana matters

Disruption:
Duress vs Inquisition of Kozelik: The only card Inquisition doesn't hit that matters is Force of Will, but we don't necessarily care about that card, so Inquisition is absolutely the pick here
Hymn to Tourach: This card is SO GOOD! It's actually one of my favorite spells to cast period because no matter what you hit, you feel so far ahead!
Stifle: This card is very good right now! Stifle beats Show and Tell, Stoneforge, and Fetchlands among other awesome moments of value
Ghastly Demise: This doesn't play too well with Tombstalker, maybe Dismember is just better?
Life from the Loam: This isn't a bad 1-of if we want to waste-lock our opponent, but I don't think that's where we want to be right now - besides RUG Delver, everyone has plenty of basics
Maelstrom Pulse: This just doesn't do what you want it to

After weighing my options, here is a prospective list:

4x Tarmogoyf
4x Delver of Secrets
2x Vendilion Clique
2x Tombstalker

4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Stifle
4x Brainstorm
4x Inquisition of Kozelik
4x Ponder
3x Force of Will
2x Spell Pierce
2x Daze
2x Dismember

3x Tropical Island
3x Underground Sea
2x Bayou
4x Wasteland
4x Polluted Delta
2x Misty Rainforest
1x Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard:
3x Pernicious Deed
2x Life from the Loam
1x Force of Will
2x Liliana of the Veil
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
3x Scavenging Ooze
2x Dismember
1x Vendilion Clique

The problem with playing a deck you're not experienced with is I don't know how all the matchups play out and what cards I need. Sideboarding is something I am still working on, and while I think this sideboard should cover everything I need, I would rather just test it first. A notable card being excluded is Snapcaster Mage. That could simply be flat out wrong in this kind of deck, as you know you want to give Hymn to Tourach flashback, but as I said I want to test this out more.

I just wanted to get this post out there before the weekend so that way if Team America win I can have a big "Yeah? Told you so!" moment, haha. In all seriousness though, I feel this deck is very well positioned in the current metagame, and I would not be surprised at all if it goes big this weekend.

I'm not going to play it, but I am absolutely going to lose to it!

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack