Jack Kitchen's Painter SCG Premier IQ—Baltimore

By Shuhei Nakamura

Shuhei Nakamura is a member of the Pro Tour Hall of Fame, former Player of the Year, and is one of just six players with more than 400 lifetime pro points.

A combo deck's biggest nightmare is Force of Will.

Being able to counter something for zero mana feels very unfair, especially when you carefully play around everything else with your combo deck. Just as annoying is when they have cheap counters, like Spell Pierce or Spell Snare.

But, fine, if that's how they want to play let's go eye-for-an-eye and play main deck Pyroblasts, laughing in the face of all those Force of Wills.

If you're into main deck anti-blue cards, why don't you try out this deck: Painter.

Painter's combo is playing Painter's Servant, selecting a color, and activating Grindstone. This combo immediately destroys the opponent's library. Painter's Servant effect covers the library so Grindstone can mill the whole library into the graveyard.

Both cards are easy to cast; Grindstone costs one mana and Servant two. Therefore, you have the flexibility of choosing from a one-drop, two-drop, turn-three kill, or building up your board slowly for a longer game. Pyroblast comes handy in this slower plan.

The combo can be disrupted by removing Painter's Servant with Grindstone's activation on the stack. To prevent this, Painter makes all spells blue. Swords to Plowshares and Lightning Bolt are blue and therefore can be countered. Of course, those evil blue counterspells can be countered as well, at any time, for the low, low price of one red mana.

Jack Kitchen's Painter SCG Premier IQ—Baltimore

Decklist Stats Sample Hand

Creature (16)

4 Painter's Servant 4 Imperial Recruiter 3 Goblin Welder 2 Simian Spirit Guide 1 Magus of the Moon 1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage 1 Phyrexian Revoker

Instant (9)

4 Pyroblast 3 Red Elemental Blast 2 Enlightened Tutor

Artifact (12)

4 Grindstone 3 Lotus Petal 2 Ensnaring Bridge 2 Sensei's Divining Top 1 Engineered Explosives

Enchantment (4)

4 Blood Moon

Land (19)

4 Ancient Tomb 4 Mountain 3 City of Traitors 3 Bloodstained Mire 2 Plateau 2 Wooded Foothills 1 Great Furnace

60 Cards

Sideboard (15)

1 Red Elemental Blast 1 Enlightened Tutor 1 Ensnaring Bridge 1 Thorn of Amethyst 2 Koth of the Hammer 1 Sphere of Law 1 Trinisphere 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Rest in Peace 1 Ethersworn Canonist 4 Firebolt