Keep

This is sort of questionable, but hear me out. This hand can beat a [[Chancellor of the Annex]] on the first turn (assuming that you do draw the action spell) and is essentially discard proof. That leaves us with a 34 percent to hit the business spell on the first turn, that said, we likely aren’t getting very many draw steps if I had to guess. I don’t know how many six or five-card hands are better than 34 percent in this specific matchup. Sometimes it’s correct to lean into the risk versus reward strategy.

Keep

While this hand is somewhat slow, Green White Depths doesn’t have many meaningful ways outside of [[Wasteland]] to interact with us in the first game. There isn’t even a decent [[Green Sun’s Zenith]] target for two mana! Their strategy should be a quick [[Dark Depths]] plus [[Thespian’s Stage]] which is a turn-three play for them on average.

I would play [[Verdant Catacombs]] and search for the basic [[Swamp]]. Cast [[Chrome Mox]] (Imprint: [[Burning Wish]]), [[Wishclaw Talisman]], [[Mox Opal]], and finally cast [[Ponder]] looking for additional mana.

Keep

Did you know? That GW Depths doesn’t play [[The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale]] as a [[Crop Rotation]] target? When given no respect, it’s best to [[Empty the Warrens]] and make them count the goblin horde. It’s worth noting that twelve [[Goblin Token]]s is enough to race a [[Marit Lage Token]] even with a blocker.

Mulligan

This hand is a trap! While the [[Dark Depths]] deck isn’t very fast or even disruptive, you shouldn’t keep hands without a real game plan just because they can cast a few spells. What if you don’t hit the land? Well, even if you do, there’s no acceleration into a Storm engine! Not to mention that [[Veil of Summer]] is a dead card.

Keep

This hand is interesting! We’ve mentioned how GW Depths doesn’t much interaction or speed, so that begs the question, “How do you play this hand?”

You could just cast [[Echo of Eons]] floating with a delayed [[Mishra’s Bauble]] trigger (you could opt to leave it in play for Metalcraft) or you can use the [[Mishra’s Bauble]] and wait a turn to make a decision. By doing this, you give yourself two opportunities to draw into a black mana source. If you hit, you get to resolve [[Ad Nauseam]] without the six mana card in your library.

What would you do?

Mulligan

This hand is honestly pretty close to Hand No. 4 without the backdoor of [[Echo of Eons]] in a pinch. The difference is that we don’t need to take such a risk when the London Mulligan exists. Realistically, we have three looks for a black mana source before a [[Marit Lage Token]] becomes a concern. Your average six-card hand should be able to win by turn three without leaving it up to chance.

Keep

Most lists for GW Depths play a single copy of [[Force of Vigor]], two [[Surgical Extraction]], and then if they play it at all one [[Mindbreak Trap]]. Play to the odds, they aren’t likely to have [[Mindbreak Trap]] (even if they are a list thats opting to play it), and with proper sequencing, we can avoid [[Force of Vigor]] and [[Surgical Extraction]].

Play [[Taiga]] and then cast [[Lotus Petal]], [[Dark Ritual]], [[Dark Ritual]], [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]], [[Wishclaw Talisman]] into [[Ad Nauseam]]!

Keep

Unlike in the first game, the opposing deck does have powerful [[Green Sun’s Zenith]] targets in post-board games — primarily, [[Collector Ouphe]] and [[Gaddock Teeg]]. Those cards paired with the few copies of [[Deafening Silence]] are reasons to keep this slow and interactive hand.

I do have concerns that this hand is lacking focus. We do have some time to figure that our and the long-term approach is likely [[Peer into the Abyss]].

Keep

This hand is sort of risky, but it does shut off [[Force of Vigor]], [[Surgical Extraction]], and [[Mindbreak Trap]]. I would be looking to Imprint [[Brainstorm]] to cast [[Defense Grid]], play [[Mishra’s Bauble]], and then activate it to start digging for [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]]. The downsides of this hand are that it can be slow if you don’t find [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] on the second turn, but it’s also weak to [[Deafening Silence]].

Keep

This hand can beat [[Mindbreak Trap]], [[Deafening Silence]], [[Gaddock Teeg]], and [[Collector Ouphe]]. We just need to draw an action spell, and as we said in our final Reaninator hand, we’re roughly 34 percent to hit (this doesn’t include Mishra’s Bauble redraws). We do have more than a few draws to hit as well, it’s important to remember that you don’t always need to keep an action spell if the rest of the hand justifies it.

Stay tuned for the next article!

I’ll provide my answer in the next article. For now, make sure to post your thoughts!