Ca-caw!

That's the sound you should be hearing as a large American contingent took the new, more aggressive version of U/W Caw-Go into Paris this weekend. Sure, it's just the same old U/W deck everyone loves (or hates), but now it can take the aggressor role far more easily than could previous iterations.

If you haven't seen the Pro Tour coverage yet, Brad Nelson received a deck tech on the new version of Caw-Go .

Do note that the list provided below is not the exact one in the video; it is the main Stoneforge Mystic build I had access to pre-Paris. You can see the newest build deck tech above, which is also Kibler-approved.

"Caw-Go"

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Squadron Hawk
• 4 Stoneforge Mystic

• Spells (26)
• 4 Jace the Mind Sculptor
• 3 Gideon Jura
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Sylvok Lifestaff
• 4 Spell Pierce
• 2 Deprive
• 2 Stoic Rebuttal
• 2 Journey to Nowhere
• 3 Day of Judgment
• 4 Preordain

• Lands (26)
• 4 Celestial Colonnade
• 4 Seachrome Coast
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 6 Island
• 4 Plains
• 4 Tectonic Edge

• Sideboard (15)
• 3 Flashfreeze
• 2 Leonin Relic-Warder
• 4 Oust
• 2 Ratchet Bomb
• 2 Perimeter Captain
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine

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To summarize, Stoneforge Mystic and Sword of Feast and Famine significantly change how the deck plays out. With the new Sword, the deck is now capable of equipping and attacking with various 3/X Hawks or Stoneforge early in the game without tapping out during the opponent's turn. Later in the game, it can be used as an Early Harvest effect, playing Planeswalkers and untapping post-combat so you leave no opening for a deck like Valakut to take advantage of while applying pressure.

In fact, in many matches, an early Stoneforge Mystic makes the deck feel like an odd Fish deck instead of a typical Standard build of U/W control. As you can see in some of the feature matches involving the deck, a turn-two or turn-three Stoneforge fetching up Sword can lead to beatings as early as turn four. Decks like Valakut and U/B have so few outs to this early play that it's rather telling how backbreaking such a simple play is.

Since this deck taps down early more often than the old Caw-Go, Spell Pierce maintains its four-of status, and considering it is the Pro Tour, you can expect a good many people to pick Valakut or control, in both of which you want to see plenty of early Spell Pierce. Additionally, Deprive and Stoic Rebuttal have taken up residency over Mana Leak due to the declining value of Leak in a long game and the increase in decks where Leak isn't a very good play. It doesn't mean you should necessarily cut them all, but removing them entirely is not out of the question, especially to squeeze in additional hard counters.

Note that all full-time finishers have been moved to the sideboard or removed from the deck entirely; they simply are no longer needed now that U/W has the equipment package, while Gideon Jura and Celestial Colonnade should also be able to do much of the work in a late-game situation.

Now, I'm only going to cover the matches I've had notable testing against, and while not a comprehensive list, it covers the major players. Note that I’m not giving an exact sideboarding strategy, as many people will be playing a different sideboard and it often changes based on the specifics of the opponent's deck.

Valakut

In a stark departure from previous control decks, you're no longer the control and instead want to pressure Valakut early. One could ask how U/W is expected to do this, and the answer is largely based on which mode of play the deck is in. If you have an early Stoneforge Mystic, you'll often begin beating down with a turn-four Sword of Feast and Famine and consistently have counter mana open while forcing Valakut to discard. You can tap out almost at will due to the Sword's Awakening ability and can quickly outclass Valakut with Planeswalkers or a clock of 5 or more damage while still representing counter magic.

The second mode is still aggressive, just less so than when you have early access to Sword of Feast and Famine. You want to play early creatures for damage, but focus more on disrupting Valakut's resources based on the cards you have in hand. For example, Avenger of Zendikar and Primeval Titan lose a bit of value when you have a Day and a counter in hand, allowing you to pick and choose your battles. A couple of Squadron Hawk and a Colonnade representing a Spell Pierce can keep the opponent off Green Sun while ignoring any ground creatures and dealing 6 a turn.

You play to your strengths, and since Valakut is a rather inflexible deck, the game plan they engage in will always be the same, trying to outresource you in the early game and then overpower with single-card trumps in the mid/late game. Oddly enough, what happens is that hands that are slow and naturally get to six and seven land using the minimum of acceleration tend to be best. Sure the nut draws are still—well, the nuts, but on average, the greater the number of cards you can keep in hand, the better. Not only does it help devalue the effect from Sword of Feast and Famine hits, but it allows for multiple turns of action and the possibility of active Valakut.

Sideboarding doesn’t change all that much in the matchup, but Oust is a huge beating to the versions packing Lotus Cobra. In fact, take special note if Game 1 shows you a version with Lotus Cobra/Overgrown Battlement/Oracle of Mul Daya. Nailing an Oust on an early mana accelerator not only slows them down but mucks up their draws, as drawing a turn-four Cobra/Battlement is miserable. Otherwise, the usual instincts are correct; cut down on anti-aggro cards like Sylvok Lifestaff and diversify your counters with the superior Flashfreeze.

U/B Control

I'll refer you to the Valakut section for hands where you have Stoneforge Mystic or Sword of Feast and Famine in hand with creatures. What happens is that an early Sword is effectively game over, since very few U/B decks have any real answers to it and Grave Titan can't effectively race. The only true out is Wurmcoil Engine or Ratchet Bomb, but the odds of Wurmcoil resolving are slim and Ratchet Bomb is a slow answer that usually only becomes relevant post-board.

In fact, Sword of Feast and Famine seeps into the core of the matchup as a threat they constantly have to respect until the late game; as a result, they can't battle you fairly or tap out early for either Jace. You have more ways to kill Planeswalkers via damage in the mirror, and Gideon Jura can outclass everything short of Grave Titan, while also being a very quick clock, though one with a throat. Often, multiple Squadron Hawks or a protected Colonnade will eventually beat the opponent to death.

At its core, every fair game against U/B control is going to come down to Jace advantage. U/B has Creeping Tar Pit and typically more Jace total than Caw-Go runs. What you have going for you are more aggressive cards, since even a pair of creatures can knock out a Jace in two attacks. You also are better suited to winning an actual counter-war, with cheaper counter magic and more hard counters for the late game when mana is no longer an issue. In fair games, I’d say you have a slight edge, but once you throw in Sword shenanigans and early beat-down options, this match has clearly moved in favor of Caw-Go.

Vampires

This match was actually pretty rough, even with the addition of Sword; what actually makes things close to fair pre-board is the ability to grind out the Vampire hordes. While the usual U/W partners are effective in this endeavor, the cards that make the biggest impact for me were Gideon Jura, Squadron Hawk, and—wait for it—Sylvok Lifestaff. People tend to look at the Staff and become confused about why a middling Scars draft common made it into Caw-Go. Well, the ability to get your Squadron Hawks to 2 power and gain life in trades is just ridiculous in a match that's all about grinding.

In fact, a big portion of the match focuses around dealing with Bloodghast and Kalastria Highborn, and while the Highborn isn't too difficult to deal with, Bloodghast is a frequent annoyance once life totals drop to the single digits. Having a cheap source of life gain and a way for your various White dorks to trade with X/2 Vampires is a big shift, which when combined with having three main-deck Day of Judgments can seriously put a damper on any hopes of holding back threats.

In order of priority, the main threats to watch out for are Bloodghast, Kalastria Highborn, and Dark Tutelage. Most other creatures in the deck are easily dealt with via trading, or a Day of Judgment will quickly put an end to them. Post-board, you’ll be really well-equipped against the Vampire hordes with either sideboard, though notably you’ll have fewer late-game end bosses for Vampires to beat. Instead, many games will revolve around buying time until Sword comes online and then taking over the game from there. Additionally, while you have no permanent solution to Bloodghast in this build, a Perimeter Captain does a fine job of blocking everything in Vamps profitably.

Kuldotha Red

By far the biggest issue with this match was incorrect assessment of hands. Sadly, you may not actually know what your opponent is on in a given round until it's too late. When you do know it's Kuldotha Red, though, by far the most important things to have are early plays and especially Stoneforge Mystic, Squadron Hawk, and Sylvok Lifestaff. On the play, Spell Pierce can also be your best friend, while on the draw, it's one of the worst cards in the deck.

You need ways to trade with the tokens and Goblins early so your cards that'll take over the game (Day of Judgment and Gideon) have time to actually hit the field. It doesn't mean those are the only cards that'll keep you alive; for example, on the play, keeping a Day of Judgment with a Mana Leak seems well and good, since you can definitely nail the second-turn threat and then clear the board. However, even plays like that aren't foolproof, and you should consider the overall strength of the hand as well.

Say I kept four lands, Mana Leak, Day of Judgment, and Preordain. You're likely going to bluff the Spell Pierce and hope Kuldotha settles for a Signal Pest or Goblin Guide turn one. Say Kuldotha doesn't care, plays a 0-cost artifact and Rebirths immediately anyway, passing back. That's fine; what can go wrong? You've got the Leak for any notable follow-up and a turn-four sweeper with no risk of whiffing on a fourth land drop. Unfortunately for you, if the Kuldotha player simply plays Contested War Zone, activates, and bashes for 6 for the next two turns, everything goes straight to hell.

That's what I mean about the importance of early drops you know will interact with the board state. Even a simple Journey to Nowhere on a token prevents potentially four or more damage there and might goad Kuldotha into placing more on the field. Instead you take 12, sweep the board, and likely die or are in critical condition when they play a haste follow-up or enough creatures to kill barring Gideon or a second Day of Judgment. Thankfully, you gain plenty of interaction post-board with sixteen early plays, turning Kuldotha into a much simpler match and making mulligans far less stressful.

The Mirror

Draw, play, and resolve Squadron Hawk—laugh as you then dominate the rest of the game. In all seriousness, the biggest difference-maker other than sticking an early Jace was Squadron Hawk pecking away at life totals or loyalty counters with no good answer to the flying jerks. Outside of that piece of advice, it really depends on your exact sideboard configuration and figuring out if your hand is suited for an aggressive early game, setting up and protecting Jace, or a grind quest of soaking up counters and working on mana or man-land advantage. While one of my friends such as LSV could explain the nuances, half the reason I like newer Caw-Go is because of the aggression allowing me to skip these tough decisions.

I hope that gives you some insight into one of the (I hope!) breakout decks at PT Paris. Cheers!

Josh Silvestri

Email me at: josh dot silvestri at gmail dot com