One month to Nationals. Having had enough of Brilliant Ultimatum, I decided it was time to find a new deck for standard and cast about for an archetype I liked the look of. I settled on Next Level Bant as it is a versatile and powerful deck, able to clog up the board like a control deck and then put the foot down at a moment's notice to go for the kill. I took it for a spin at the Amsterdam PTQ this past weekend, and I'd like to do a split article today – part tournament report, part discussion of the deck. First of all though, a shout out to all my local readers - especially Dion who always has something nice to say about my latest article. He pointed out I missed Reveillark entirely last week, and for those of you looking for something else to experiment with in new extended/double standard/whatever we're going to call it Reveillark is surely worth checking out. You won't be able to recur Martyr of Sands anymore, but the new Man o' War, Dragonmaster Outcast, Mulldrifter, Figure of Destiny and all the old favourites are still available to endlessly return.

Next Level Bant was not in anyone's gauntlet until after GP: Sendai, but it has made itself a major presence in the metagame in just a few short weeks. It is an intriguing deck, as it can play a controlling or an aggressive role with the same maindeck, depending on who the beatdown is in the matchup. Brian Kibler is the most accomplished pilot with the deck, and I read his primer over at StarCityGames to get the lowdown on his latest build. I made some changes based on card availability, my penchant for tinkering and the advice of twitter.

From Kibler's list I chopped an Elspeth as I could only get a hold of two, putting a Master of the Wild Hunt in her place. For similar reasons I cut the Sunpetal Groves for an extra Wildwood, a Plains and a Terramorphic but ideally I would play the Groves. I was unimpressed by Borderland Ranger as he doesn't get you to four mana on turn 3, so I played a miser's Nest Invader instead. Gideon Jura seems out of place in the main deck, so I relegated him to the sideboard for an Eldrazi Monument on the advice of Jon Medina, outspoken columnist on this very site. I also wiggled the sideboard a little to try things out. The resulting list is as follows:

"Next Level Bant"

• Lands (24)
• 5 Forest
• 2 Plains
• 2 Island
• 4 Celestial Colonnade
• 2 Stirring Wildwood
• 4 Seaside Citadel
• 4 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Terramorphic Expanse

• Creatures (25)
• 4 Noble Hierarch
• 2 Birds of Paradise
• 1 Scute Mob
• 1 Nest Invader
• 4 Wall of Omens
• 4 Sea Gate Oracle
• 4 Vengevine
• 2 Ranger of Eos
• 1 Master of the Wild Hunt
• 2 Sphinx of Lost Truths

• Non-Creature Spells (11)
• 2 Path to Exile
• 2 Oblivion Ring
• 1 Bant Charm
• 3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
• 2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
• 1 Eldrazi Monument

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Celestial Purge
• 1 Gideon Jura
• 1 Luminarch Ascension
• 2 Day of Judgment
• 2 Qasali Pridemage
• 2 Negate
• 2 Deprive
• 2 Bant Charm

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For those of you who don't know how the deck works, it is centered around Vengevine. It plays the best Vengevines of basically any deck, as not only does it have a high creature count for recurring them but it has plenty of ways to find more creatures between the cantripping blockers, Ranger of Eos and Sphinx. It can also send them to the air with Elspeth, gives them exalted with Hierarch and in this version, makes them flying and indestructible. The aggressive side of the deck is entirely dependent on accelerating into Vengevine and Elspeth, as without these two you are attacking for 1 with Sea Gate Oracles most of the time. The deck's controlling package is rather more meaty, with a UW-like package of Wall of Omens and Jace plus Sea Gate Oracle playing early defense and finding the cards you need. Even when you are playing the control role, Vengevine is still your main path to victory as you don't have cards like Baneslayer Angel and Martial Coup to act as trumps.

It is hard to stress how vital it is to play a four mana card on turn 3 in some matchups with this deck. Getting your Elspeth down before theirs is crucial against other planeswalker decks and the mirror, and a turn 3 Vengevine with exalted can give any opposing deck pause. I made some bad mulligan decisions in the last round that cost me top 8 – I kept hands with 4 mana cards but nothing to accelerate to them, and I was too far behind once I could cast my spells – more on that below. Other matches it is not so crucial, but the mana acceleration is a major bonus to playing this deck, without going overboard like Mythic. Where Mythic draws dead in the late game quite a bit in exchange for a devastating haymaker punch, NLB can always find a use for its mana dorks and cantrip walls.

Of my changes, I really liked the Eldrazi Monument in the maindeck. The card is great as an Overrun type finisher that can break open a stalled board, and as a way to stabilize against hefty non-trampling opposition. Gideon Jura is good for some matches, but Monument is good nearly every match, especially in combination with Elspeth. With so many disposable guys floating around NLB's board most games, Monument seems an ideal one or two of. Nest Invader I was mildly happy with. It served its purpose of getting me to 4 on turn 3, but with , and fours I wanted to play the colourless mana was not that exciting. I think possibly Lotus Cobra could be a better fit, or just an extra Birds of Paradise? Either way I don't think Borderland Ranger is the best this deck can do on 3 mana. Master of the Wild Hunt was a total house, singlehandedly taking over a couple of games, but given the option of playing a 3rd and even 4th Elspeth I would probably jump at the chance. Elspeth is just a phenomenal card no matter the situation – she helps you race, she stems the flow of damage if you're trying to stabilise, and her ultimate is amazingly unbalancing, especially in such a creature heavy deck. Master is certainly powerful and I would like to keep him in, but finding cuts is not easy.

The sideboard above is not recommended – the highlights were undoubtedly the Purges, the counters and the Day of Judgments. The counters put the favourable UW match into the 'cakewalk' category, the Days help against aggressive decks you've stalled out with your cantrip guys and the Purges are one of the best cards you can have against a number of decks. The Luminarch Ascension is especially questionable as your matchup against control is already great. What I'd like to find before Nationals is a good sideboard plan for the mirror, as the match seems like a coin-flip currently. I mean, that's to be expected from a mirror match, but some sort of tech to gain an edge would be very desirable.

The matches

Round 1: Paul, Vengevine Naya

A deck and player I was familiar with, as I was considering playing it myself a month ago – and I played Paul with his Grixis deck at my last tournament. I beat him then 2-0 with Brilliant Ultimatum, but today it was to be a different story. Game 1 he opened on turn 2 Cobra that turned into turn 3 Siege-Gang Commander. I managed to answer the Commander, with Path I think, but the 3 tokens stuck around and were joined by Cunning Sparkmage and enough other threats to finish me off in short time. I sided out Walls for removal and Wraths, and in game 2 I Bant Charmed his Lotus Cobra leaving him with 2 Forests. I played a Vengevine and attacked, he looked at his next card and scooped. Game 3 was a repeat of the first – Lotus Cobra into Siege Gang, killing my mana guys and attacking with Vengevine and goblin tokens.

This match seems pretty even. They have some crazy draws, but NLB is definitely the control deck in the match and if you can stabilize your card advantage should overwhelm them. You also have plenty of answers to Sparkmage/Collar between O-Ring and Bant Charm, just be prepared for it as it is a nasty combination if it sticks around.

0-1

Round 2: Tim Currey, Homebrew Mono-Green Ramp

0-1 is not where I planned to start round 2, but I could still get there if I won out. Tim was playing his own concoction, which played a bunch of mana-elves along with expensive token generation spells like Wolfbriar Elemental and Howl of the Night Pack. In the first game he had turn 2 Leatherback Baloth against my Wall of Omens, which was pretty rude. I used a couple of Sea Gate Oracle to find and play Eldrazi Monument, which rendered his Strength of the Tajuru ineffective. His follow up play was Howl of the Night Pack for 8 wolves though, which I had no answer to. I sided in my Day of Judgments and Gideon and was on the play in game 2. Games 2 and 3 go in my favour as I have an early Vengevine both games and have removal for his blockers, and being mono-green he has no way to deal with my attacks.

1-1

Round 3: Stuart, Red-Black Deck Wins

This was the green-sleeve mirror match and I hoped Stuart wasn't playing Spreading Seas, as there was a very real chance they would end up in my deck. Fortunately he wasn't enchanting my permanents at all, instead opening with turn 1 Goblin Guide. This is my first game against red with NLB but I feel like the matchup will be okay with my 8 maindeck walls, Elspeth tokens, Nest Invader, Vengevine and so on to throw in front of the attackers. I take a bunch of damage, getting down to 11 before I land some Walls to hold off his goblins and Bloodghasts. He has Cunning Sparkmage which worries me and he uses removal to clear the way but runs out of Bolts when I land my Master of the Wild Hunt. I take out all his creatures and his life total goes 19 (Catacombs), 18 (Tarn), 8, scoop. Game 2 I think he took out Blightning and the game goes about the same way, but I have Elspeth launching the wolf tokens this time and it is over much more easily.

2-1

Round 4: Trinity, Grixis

Trinity is playing Grixis, a deck I just don't get. I don't know how it makes GP Top 8s. I've never lost a tournament match against it and the resulting contempt leads me to keep a shaky hand game one. Multiple Blightnings and an Earthquake to clear my board puts me low enough for a Sedraxis Specter to finish me off in game 1, and we're off to our sideboards. I take out my Walls for some killer sideboard cards like Celestial Purge and Negate and nature takes its course. Game 2 I get Cruelled, which empties my hand and makes me sacrifice a Hierarch, or something. Who cares. Nest Invader and Scute Mob get in there, but I miscount Scute Mob's power and don't attack with Colonnade to finish Trinity off. Fortunately my gaffe doesn't cost me as the next turn I get Bolted to put me to 5 – I consider whether to Negate it or not for way too long before deciding not to and countering the subsequent Cruel. Game 3 she misplays her fetchlands and the best she can muster is another measly Cruel Ultimatum the turn before my Vengevines put her to zero.

3-1

Round 5: Luke, Brilliant Ultimatum

Having recovered to 3-1 I go to check my tiebreakers and find I have the worst of all the 9 pointers. Just have to keep winning, right? Luke seems chirpy and cocky, wondering out loud what deck I'm playing. He wins the dice roll and opens with a Borderpost, so I immediately put him on Time Sieve. I hit him for 5 a turn with an exalted Vengevine while he does not do much but manipulate his library with Jace and See Beyond, and then I'm shocked to hear him announce “Brilliant Ultimatum”? He flips up two Emrakuls and knocks me to 5, and shows me the Time Warp in his hand to save me figuring out what to sacrifice to annihilator. He talks non-stop during sideboarding, wondering what I have to bring in, and asking me what he should take out - I suggested Emrakul, but I don't know if he followed my advice. He suggested I would bring in Monument, and I honestly assured him I didn't have one to bring in. Game 2 I land my maindeck one to Overrun him, and game 3 I'm a bit hazy on the details but his life goes 16 (Vengevine), 15, 11, 7, dead. I think my counters were important this game but I can't be sure. At 4-1 I am pretty happy about my chances, wondering if I'll be able to draw in.

4-1

Round 6: Brandon Lau, Next Level Bant

I find myself in 9th heading into this round, paired down against Brandon who is at 3-1-1. My friend Jason tells me Brandon Top 8ed Nationals a couple of years ago and looking him up since, I see he was in the Australian team that went to the finals against the USA in 2008. I ask if he wants to scoop me in and he responds by asking the same question, so we have to do things "the honest way" – his words. Game 1 I had an early Elspeth to throw some creatures at Brandon and knocked him over with Monument. I was pretty confident now, only one more game and would make top 8. I had no sideboard plan for the mirror though, and I brought in Day of Judgments and Gideon for my mostly irrelevant Walls, hoping to play the control role. Game 2 I kept a terribly slow hand – 4 lands, two 4 drops and a Sphinx. Brandon has no such trouble and finishes me off on turn 5 or so, casting Sphinx of Lost Truths, discarding two Vengevines, casting Scute Mob and ending the game with hasty beats. We talk about the general crappiness of my opener, and game 3 I hesitate before keeping a nearly-as-bad seven. This game he resolves his trump card, Sphinx of Jwar Isle. I have virtually no answer to this besides Wrath, and I can't find it anything like soon enough. We talk over the mirror and neither of us has much of a sideboard plan, but we agree a turn 3 Elspeth is game over. I wish Brandon luck in top 8 and slink away, defeated. Though Brandon is certainly a strong player I felt I was capable of winning if I didn't keep such bad openers. More practice with the deck is definitely in order, and especially against the mirror.

4-2

Next Next Level

I really enjoyed playing the deck and felt I had a good chance against everyone I played. It is a reasonably complicated deck and I made some bad mulligan decisions in the last round, but I think this deck will really reward more practice to learn the intricacies of it. Unfortunately playing online is not a feasible option, with Jace, The Mind Sculptor hitting 101 tickets at last count and Vengevine, Elspeth and Noble Hierarch no slouches in the cost department. The next step is trying out a few things as the 7th mana accelerator – Lotus Cobra or an extra Birds of Paradise seem like the best bet. After that I want to test the deck a lot more against the main foes and especially against the mirror – figuring out a good sideboard plan against other NLB players will probably be very important if I play the deck in Canberra. If you have any good tech for the mirror I'd love to hear about it in the comments, or any other thoughts on the deck!