What’s the Play? #1

Last night I was having a blast chatting with Negator77 on Mtgo while playing the D&T vs Turbo Lands matchup. We had been chatting about optimal lines to take and giving each other feedback. For reference, here’s the decklist:

Blue Turbo Lands, Negator77

Creatures (4)
Vampire Hexmage

Spells (28)
Duress
Inquisition of Kozilek
Sylvan Scrying
Thoughtseize
Abrupt Decay
Brainstorm
Crop Rotation
Stifle
Expedition Map
Mox Diamond
Pithing Needle
Lands (28)
Bayou
Bojuka Bog
Dark Depths
Gemstone Mine
Misty Rainforest
Polluted Delta
Sejiri Steppe
Thespian’s Stage
Tropical Island
Underground Sea
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Wasteland

Sideboard (15)
Abrupt Decay
Pithing Needle
Flusterstorm
Ghost Quarter
Hydroblast
Karakas
Krosan Grip
Mishra’s Factory
Surgical Extraction

The board had gotten a little complex, which is normal for this matchup. D&T has so many angles of attack against the Turbo Lands strategy that it can be very difficult to wiggle through between various things like Rishadan Port, Wasteland, Karakas, Flickerwisp, and Swords to Plowshares. At one point he paused for a couple of minutes to think. While he usually felt pretty good about what lines to take, this situation was particularly tricky. Here’s the boardstate:

Tricky Situation

As the Lands player, you have a board of Ghost Quarter, Bayou, Thespian’s Stage, and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. You hand contains 2 Crop Rotation, Surgical Extractoin, Mox Diamond, Abrupt Decay and Dark Depths. It is currently your upkeep, and your opponent activated Rishadan Port targeting your Thespian’s Stage.

On the board, you are staring down two Plains, Wasteland, Rishadan Port, Thalia, Guardian of Thraban, and a Mother of Runes that could protect a flier from Marit Lage. Your opponent has three cards in hand. The way your opponent has played suggests that they have Karakas in hand as well, but this is just your intuition.

What’s the play?

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Phil Gallagher

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