However, there was a flaw in my analysis. I knew decks evolved quickly in Standard, but I didn't take into account how quickly. I figured it hadn't even been a week yet, so people might struggle to adapt quickly. I was very, very wrong. Every deck had adapted to Turbo Fog in one way or another. So, your worst matchups became every Game 2 and three against almost every deck. I should've known better. I've seen this happen before where the Fog deck does really well but then falls off the weeks after.

You see, Fog decks always take advantage of a hole in the metagame. When most of the best decks are creature based, people play less Duress, Negates, Doomfalls, and countermagic. After all, Duress and Negate are bad against a creature heavy meta. This metagame is where Fog decks thrive and crush. Creature decks with very little interaction is what Turbo Fog wants to play against every round. This had changed a lot faster than I anticipated in less than a week.

This is the list I registered for the Grand Prix.

Turbo Fog | Magic 2019 Standard | Ali Aintrazi

• Planeswalkers (6)
• 2 Nissa, Steward of Elements
• 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

• Instants (16)
• 2 Glimmer of Genius
• 2 Supreme Will
• 4 Haze of Pollen
• 4 Nexus of Fate
• 4 Root Snare

• Sorceries (4)
• 4 Chart a Course

• Enchantments (8)
• 1 Oath of Teferi
• 3 Search for Azcanta
• 4 Gift of Paradise

• Lands (26)
• 4 Forest
• 4 Island
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 2 Glacial Fortress
• 3 Sunpetal Grove
• 4 Hinterland Harbor
• 4 Irrigated Farmland
• 4 Scattered Groves

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Jace's Defeat
• 4 Negate
• 2 Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1 Cleansing Nova
• 1 Gideon's Intervention
• 1 Approach of the Second Sun
• 1 Ixalan's Binding
• 3 Manglehorn

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Joe and I tried to next level the decks by playing Gideon's Intervention for Insult and Approach to stabilize and as an alternate win condition but ultimately it wasn't enough. I really wanted to play Bounty of the Luxa to make use of the Fogs and basically have a Howling Mine. Bounty of the Luxa also allowed us to cast Nexus of Fate next turn, even if we didn't a draw a land. This meant Nexus of Fate didn't rot in our hand and we got draw two cards on the on Nexus of Fate turn thanks to Bounty of the Luxa.

Side note: Sadly, no vendor had any Bounty of the Luxa. They also had no commons or uncommons, I had to ask friends and random people for Manglehorn. That was a pretty awful experience and I feel like at a Standard Grand Prix you should be able to get any Standard card, but instead it was impossible. So, the tech I had come up with didn't matter because nobody had any in stock.

Where would I go from here for Turbo Fog? Honestly, I'd just go back to a ramp list. It's so much better in this meta and you have more angles of attack. I should have more trust in brews, even if a new deck spikes an event (pro tour with Fog.) This is what I would play if I was playing Bant Fog tomorrow.

Bant Turbo Teferi | Magic 2019 Standard | Ali Aintrazi

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria

• Instants (14)
• 1 Supreme Will
• 2 Commit // Memory
• 3 Settle the Wreckage
• 4 Haze of Pollen
• 4 Nexus of Fate

• Sorceries (6)
• 1 Cleansing Nova
• 1 Fumigate
• 4 Hour of Promise

• Enchantments (9)
• 2 Bounty of the Luxa
• 3 Search for Azcanta
• 4 Gift of Paradise

• Lands (27)
• 1 Forest
• 1 Island
• 1 Plains
• 1 Arch of Orazca
• 1 Field of Ruin
• 1 Ipnu Rivulet
• 1 Scavenger Grounds
• 1 Shefet Dunes
• 2 Hashep Oasis
• 2 Sunpetal Grove
• 3 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Hinterland Harbor
• 4 Irrigated Farmland
• 4 Scattered Groves

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Ixalan's Binding
• 1 Cleansing Nova
• 3 Pelakka Wurm
• 4 Negate
• 2 Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 2 Jace's Defeat
• 1 Reclamation Sage
• 1 Nezahal, Primal Tide

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I like the alternate win condition of Hour of Promise here. The zombies can protect Teferi or you, pressure your opponent, and other walkers. Hour of Promise is also offering utility since you can get things like Arch of Orazca, Scavenger Grounds, Field of Ruin, Ipnu Rivulet etc. Ipnu Rivulet does work well with Commit by milling your opponents' card that you put back in their deck with Commit or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria.

As far as the Sideboard goes, I like Pelakka Wurm over Lyra Dawnbringer. Lyra is always hit or miss. You either win or lose on the spot because of a removal spell or Ahn-Crop Crasher. Pelakka Wurm gains the life right away, replaces itself if it dies, and doesn't have to attack to gain life. It kills in three turns instead of five which matters if you are taking extra turns. On top of all that, it plays well with Bounty of the Luxa too.

I like Reclamation Sage over Manglehorn because it also hits enchantments. Destroying a Search for Azcanta or Cast Out is very relevant. I'd rather just have more countermagic against Paradoxical Outcome because Manglehorn can look silly against a Paradoxical Outcome and you are just trying to destroy Inspiring Statuary most of the time anyway.

Again, even if you don't want to run this version of the deck but want to stick more closely to the Bant Fog deck that did well at the Pro Tour, that's fine. Just make sure you play some board wipes main deck, just eight Fogs isn't going to cut it from here on out. Punish your opponent's for playing Insult // Injury by Fumigating or Settling all their creatures away.

My next event will most likely be Grand Prix Richmond. I need to decide if I want to do that or go to Dragoncon. Decisions decisions... I've been working on a Sultai Veteran Explorer deck for Legacy, so I really want to try and play that sometime. What do you all think?

Well that's all I got for you today. If you decide to play this deck, make sure to keep me updated. I love to hear about how people did with my decks.

As always, thanks for reading!

Ali Aintrazi

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