Worlds 2009 Standard Deck List: Boros Bushwhacker by Brian Kibler

November 20, 2009 | Posted by Dee

Starcitygames just published a premium article by Brian Kibler about his Standard deck. He went 4-2 in the Standard portion of Worlds 2009 with an unconventional deck list of the Boros Bushwhacker archetype. His list featured 0 Kor Skyfisher, 0 Teetering Peaks, 1 Akrasan Squire, 3 Earthquake, and 3 Terramorphic Expanse.

Boros Bushwhacker
Creatures (21)
Spells (14)
Lands (25)
Sideboard (15)

Deck Analysis

I haven’t tested the deck but it looks pretty solid.

25 land might seem like a lot with no five drops in the main deck but the deck has a whopping 15 fetchlands to thin out the lands. Also, Burst Lightning can be played for five mana to kill the pro white Malakir Bloodwitch, Earthquake is an X spell, and there are three Baneslayers in the board, which cost five mana.

Akrasan Squire looks out of place but it lets you win Baneslayer battles and it gives Ranger of Eos four power to kill Putrid Leech. Also, Elite Vanguard can be rendered useless by Sprouting Thrinax but Squire is still useful with its exalted ability.

With all the fetchlands, Earthquake can be a one-sided wrath. You can pump up your landfall guys with fetches to keep them from dying to Earthquake. Also, Earthquake is very good versus all the planeswalkers running around.

Terramorphic Expanse gives the deck extra fetchlands while making the mana base more stable.

The 2/2 split of Path to Exile and Journey to Nowhere seems curious. Path is great for big creatures and haste creatures but the drawback can hurt you when your opponents ramp up to their important spells earlier like Broodmate Dragon and Ranger of Eos.

Here’s what Kibler had to say about the sideboard:

The sideboard is skewed largely toward Jund with nods to the mirror and the various anti-Jund decks that have popped up. White Knight fights past all of Jund’s creatures and lives through Jund Charm, making it a superstar in that matchup, though much worse if your opponents have Magma Sprays to complement their Lightning Bolts. Adventuring Gear and Mark of Mutiny are both outstanding against the big creature Green decks, since you can use any of your creatures to punch past their blockers with the former or just steal them to attack with using the latter. The rest of the sideboard is fairly straightforward. Baneslayer Angels come in for the mirror and against Jund after sideboarding since their deck is often full of Pyroclasm effects and you need a big creature to finish with over their blockers.

Source: The Dragonmaster’s Lair – Standard at Worlds: Selecting My Deck (premium article)

Filed Under Standard 

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One Response to “Worlds 2009 Standard Deck List: Boros Bushwhacker by Brian Kibler”

  1. Joey on November 21st, 2009 12:58 am

    Great analysis! I’m partial to Calcano’s list at the moment (I tried Kelly Reid’s list first, but felt that I kept getting mana flooded—Calcano’s has more fetches to thin the deck).

    I’m not sure about Earthquake, but I can see its uses. I like 4 Path main, since it can trigger landfall to get that last bit of damage in if you use it on one of your own guys (preferably one that’s been blocked).