It has been brought to my attention that Scapeshift is a tier one deck now, disqualifying it from inclusion in this column.

Screw the rules. I promised you a Scapeshift article and that's exactly what you'll get.

Scapeshift is a card that had to wait a while before finding a home. When it first came out in Morningtide, the best use I could find for it was 8-Post (Cloudpost + Vesuva). Then it became obvious that wasn't going to last, and they never had to be dusted off until Zendikar came out with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle. That's when all the talk started. Initially the deck was straight-up red/green, as shown in this very early incarnation:

RG Scapeshift Combo by SaTiVa

4th Place, Magic-Leage.com Extended Trial, September 29, 2009

[cardlist]1 Bogardan Hellkite

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

4 Solemn Simulacrum

4 Harrow

3 Lavaball Trap

2 Lightning Bolt

1 Banefire

1 Life from the Loam

4 Scapeshift

4 Search for Tomorrow

2 Worm Harvest

4 Khalni Heart Expedition

2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

4 Misty Rainforest

4 Snow-Covered Forest

9 Snow-Covered Mountain

4 Stomping Ground

3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

Sideboard

2 Ancient Grudge

4 Krosan Grip

2 Skred

3 Volcanic Fallout

4 Firespout[/cardlist]

It seemed like a good idea at the time, but then Pro Tour-Austin rolled around, and the Japanese took a good thing and made it better.

UGR Scpaeshift by Makihito Mihara

54th Place, Pro Tour-Austin 2009

[cardlist]4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

4 Wood Elves

2 Harrow

4 Peer Through Depths

4 Remand

2 Firespout

4 Scapeshift

4 Search for Tomorrow

4 Khalni Heart Expedition

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Breeding Pool

2 Forest

1 Island

4 Misty Rainforest

3 Mountain

2 Scalding Tarn

4 Steam Vents

4 Stomping Ground

2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

Sideboard

2 Meloku the Clouded Mirror

3 Ravenous Trap

2 Repeal

1 Firespout

2 Shattering Spree

2 Chalice of the Void

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Relic of Progenitus

1 Tormods Crypt[/cardlist]

See? Blue makes everything better. I appreciate the explosiveness of this deck much more so than Tooth and Nail, as unlike Tooth, there is plenty of protection, as well as more ways to sift and dig and more ways to survive.

Five Cards I Like in this Deck...

Coiling Oracle - One of my all-time favorites. This card is a win-win: either you ramp, or it replaces itself. For two mana and a body? Yeah, it's a 1/1, but anything that stalls Zoo and does something relevant is a winner in my book. I don't see why this isn't an auto-include.

Cryptic Command - With all the ramping in this deck, that spare mana lying around has to go to some use. Why not shut down your opponent's offense for a turn, or counter his game-winner, or draw a card, or kill Marit Lage?

Kitchen Finks - Gavin Verhey touched on this in his very good article about this deck last week over at Star City. It is a ridiculous anti-aggro tool and serves as an alternate win condition against control decks. Alas, I like it a lot more against Zoo than Faeries, etc., and while Zoo is a force to be reckoned with, you likely won't play Zoo often enough that you need more than two in your main deck. Definitely put two more in your board, though.

Life from the Loam - Resiliency – don't head to a PTQ without it. If Ghost Quarter's ruining your day, bring in Loam to laugh in his face. And if you bring Ghost Quarter into the deck (I approve this decision, though I haven't worked it into my build below), who doesn't like recurring Wastelands? Oh, that's right, your opponent.

Sylvan Scrying - Time and time again while playing Faeries or Thopter, I wish I could dig for that one copy of Boseiju to force Scapeshift through a counter wall. Well, here's your answer.

...and Four I Don't Like

Harrow - Blasphemy! Well, not really. There's enough ramp in this deck that Harrow isn't a bad choice, but can be easily cut if need be.

Harmonize - Way too much of a mana sink for this deck. If I'm going to dig for Scapeshift I'd rather be able to do it for two mana and at instant speed, thank you very much.

Primal Command - Again, a mana sink. Seems great against aggro, but doesn't do much for you other than gain seven life in that matchup.

Solemn Simulacrum - Another body is always nice, but I want to keep my pre-Scapeshift spells as cheap as possible.

With all that in mind, here's my current build of Scapeshift.

Scapeshift by Sam Feeley

[cardlist]4 Coiling Oracle

2 Kitchen Finks

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

3 Condescend

2 Cryptic Command

1 Life from the Loam

4 Remand

2 Repeal

4 Peer Through Depths

4 Scapeshift

4 Search for Tomorrow

2 Sylvan Scrying

1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

2 Breeding Pool

4 Forest

3 Island

2 Misty Rainforest

2 Mountain

4 Steam Vents

4 Stomping Ground

2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

Sideboard

1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

3 Echoing Truth

4 Firespout

2 Shadow of Doubt

2 Kitchen Finks

3 Relic of Progenitus[/cardlist]

As always, I'll take suggestions, but I'm also toying around with Threads of Disloyalty, and I'm trying to figure out where Ancient Grudge and Krosan Grip would go, if anywhere.

With this deck I would make sideboard as follows:

Scapeshift: +2 Shadow of Doubt, +1 Boseiju, -1 Flooded Grove, -2 Repeal

Zoo: +4 Firespout, +2 Kitchen Finks, -2 Sylvan Scrying, -4 Remand

Thopter: +1 Boseiju, +3 Relic of Progenitus, -2 Repeal, -2 Kitchen Finks

Dredge: + 3 Echoing Truth, +3 Relic of Progenitus, -2 Sylvan Scrying, -2 Repeal, -1 Life from the Loam, -1 Condescend

Faeries: +4 Firespout, +1 Boseiju, -1 Flooded Grove, -4 Remand

Dark Depths: +3 Echoing Truth, +1 Boseiju, -1 Flooded Grove, -2 Kitchen Finks, -1 Remand

All-In Red: +3 Echoing Truth, +2 Kitchen Finks, +3 Relic of Progenitus, -2 Sylvan Scrying

One last thing – Do not, I repeat, DO NOT splash a fourth color. I've tried it and it slows the deck down far too much. You can argue all you want for Cranial Extraction, etc., but if you're going to stop them, stop them with on-color solutions like Shadow of Doubt.

More Valakut next week, only this time in Standard.

Until next time, enjoy the scenery – while it lasts.

-Sam