[Primer] Turbo Fog

Spell_Slam
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Joined: 4 years ago
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Location: Québec

Post by Spell_Slam » 4 years ago

Introduction
You are a woodland mage, seeking a quiet and isolated life among the trees and the trickling streams and rivers, studying them and wielding the knowledge you gain from them. You are quick and furtive, and have no need for weapons or an army of monsters to protect you. Invading creatures sent by hostile mages return empty-handed and weary. Upon following your trail, they encounter thick, impenetrable fogs, paralyzing spores and impassable rivers. This mighty forest is your home, and any mage who dares enter it will slowly be stripped of all of their resources, knowledge and will to fight.
"The art of war is turning obstacle to advantage."
-Jaeuhl Carthalion, Juniper Order Advocate
Turbo Fog is a control deck consisting of two essential kinds of cards: Fogs and draw spells. The deck draws many cards in order to play a Fog every turn until victory, which is most often sealed through milling the opponent.


Building the Deck
Building the Deck
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The deck can be categorized into five parts: Fogs, Draw, Mill, Counters and Lands.

Turbo Fog will generally run 10-12 Fog cards. Some run less, but they run the risk of not having a Fog for the turn, which can result in a loss. Following that, there will typically be 16-21 draw spells, 4-6 slots for milling, 3-7 counterspells and 18-21 lands.

Fogs:
Fogs
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There are a great many Fogs available in Green. I advise against any Fogs costing 4 or more mana, as they are too expensive. Very few Fogs are playable at 3 mana, but there are some. 1 and 2 mana fogs are the easiest to play. Here is a non-exhaustive list of Fogs to choose from:
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Fog A no-brainer. The name-sake card can sometimes be cut if we want to maximize our fogs with additional effects.

Fog Patch This has advantages when playing against Flaring Pain. It also has the disadvantage of letting creatures with Trample deal all of their damage regardless.

Lull This is somewhat of a stretch in playability. There are very few situations where you'd rather cycle than keep the fog, but they do occur.

Moment's Peace This is the very best Fog spell in Pauper. Getting the effect twice out of one card is immensely powerful.

Respite Gaining a few life can save you a Fog later, or can put you out of burn range. A very nasty surprise for some opponents.

Spore Cloud This can act as a double Fog for an unsuspecting opponent. It gives you time on your turn to cast sorceries or tutors to get ahead. The double G can sometimes be difficult to obtain, however.

Spore Frog While having a Fog in creature form can have its advantages in certain decks (such as with recursion or in order to deal some damage), it is a much less reliable form of damage prevention than an instant or sorcery that can only be stopped with Countermagic. If the opponent has any instant-speed removal at all, the Fog effect will be completely wasted.

Tangle Warning: this card was only printed as a common online in Vintage Masters, not all groups allow rarities from online expansions. It is, however, an excellent card to use if you're playing online.

Undergrowth If you feel like 4 Fogs are not enough, here are 4 more.
Draw:
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Drawing cards is important to find more Fogs and to mill the opponent. Blue is what makes the deck come together. There is a panoply of draw to choose from in Blue, and this list is far from exhaustive. Here are some choices to consider:
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Accumulated Knowledge A popular choice in some decks has been to replace Words of Wisdom or Vision Skeins with this. This card does not compare with the card advantage of these two cards. However, in matchups where the opponent can make good use of the free cards, this can be a great disadvantage. Accumulated Knowledge is therefore a safer choice than the Words or Visions.

Artificer's Epiphany The closest thing to an instant-speed draw-two without giving the opponent cards. Running a few Artifact Lands is easy, and Pristine Talisman is also a card some decks will play.

Brainstorm This is often the best choice of cantrips three reasons reasons. First, it is an instant. Second, it actually draws you cards, triggering Jace's Erasure multiple times for a single mana. Third, it can allow you to use any of the cards you drew by placing cards already in your hand back on top, which also helps fight discard effects. It is often coupled with lands like Terramorphic Expanse to have a shuffling effect to put bad cards away.

Compulsive Research Essentially a better Divination since it draws a third card and lets you discard excess lands that may have been drawn.

Deep Analysis This will give you the most card advantage of the whole lot, but at a high cost (both life and mana being spent). A good choice, but to use in sparse numbers.

Fathom Seer Can be useful to block early creatures to save yourself some Fogs. It turns on your opponents' otherwise blank removal, however.

Gush Drawing cards for free is always nice. This can even help fuel Oona's Grace in the late game for even more cards.

Ideas Unbound This card has the huge upside of drawing you three cards for only two mana. Having to discard three at the end of turn however is an enormous drawback. It might be worth playing in some circumstances.

Impulse Digs very deep at instant speed and puts the other cards on the bottom. An excellent draw spell. Those who can't find copies can always use the inferior (but still good) Anticipate. Unfortunately, these cards don't trigger Jace's Erasure at all, as the cards are placed in hand, not drawn.

Keep Watch This card can have a huge impact on the game when it works. Capable of drawing you 4+ cards at instant speed, Keep Watch has huge potential. That being said, it is often hit and miss. Some decks never attack with more than one or two creatures, or rarely attack at all. Having a draw spell depend on your opponent playing a certain way can make this card difficult to use. It also comes with a hefty mana cost that makes playing it even at instant speed difficult. I think the window of opportunity for this card is narrow even in the best of scenarios.
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Krosan Tusker "What is a green creature card doing in the draw section?!" you may ask. The answer is you never use it as a creature, but always for it's cycling. This card is a powerful draw spell because it's uncounterable, instant speed, guarantees you a land (something this deck needs a lot of), and uses green mana (which is otherwise only used to cast Fog spells). An uncounterable source of card advantage (2-for-1) is otherwise non-existent in Pauper. The fact that it costs three mana to use is the only thing holding this card back.

Oona's Grace Filtering your lands late in the game at instant speed can help you find the cards you really need. 3 mana is a bit steep, however.

Ponder When choosing among the digging spells such as this one, I would recomend not using too many. They’re good at fixing your draws, but they don’t actually gain you any cards. The shuffling effect of Ponder is very welcome in this deck that's looking for specific cards at the right time.

Preordain Although you don't see as much of your deck as the other two, Preordain allows you to place the cards you see directly on the bottom, basically guaranteeing that you won't see them again (unless you shuffle).

Rain of Revelation Sometimes the simplest cards can be the most effective. Drawing 3 cards at instant speed is well worth the 4 mana and discard.

Scour All Possibilities This card will dig up to 3 cards deep to find the right card. The Flashback cost can be quite prohibitive for a sorcery, as opposed to Think Twice, which costs less and is an instant. Scry 2 is quite a big upside, however.

See Beyond Another 2-mana draw spell that draws you two cards. Although it seems like a worse Brainstorm, the fact that the card you choose is shuffled and not placed on top is very important.

Take Inventory This card is in almost all ways worse than Accumulated Knowledge. It's sorcery speed really makes it much worse, and not counting the cards in other players' graveyards can also come up. The real question is if this card should be run with AK. Even if the effect is strong, it is still sorcery speed, which means that other instant-speed draws will likely be better.

Telling Time This newly downgraded spell is instant speed, digs three cards deep and puts the worst card on the bottom. The only disadvantage Telling Time has over most other draw spells in this list is that it doesn't trigger Jace's Erasure.

Think Twice Although it is expensive to draw two cards from this, the fact that it has flashback makes Blue players very hesitant to counter it. The flashback also comes in handy in later turns where mana isn't an issue any more.

Tragic Lesson Drawing 2 at instant speed is always good. The drawback can even be a good thing when running utility lands or Thornwood Falls.

Tolarian Winds One of the biggest trap cards for the deck, Tolarian Winds appears to be the ultimate combo card with Jace's Erasure, both milling the opponent for a ton and getting rid of a hand full of dead cards. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Turbo Fog burns a lot of cards in a turn, and requires you to play your lands, so holding back cards in order to discard them doesn't make sense. If you built your deck correctly, you shouldn't even have many dead cards to begin with. Winds is also card disadvantage, which Turbo Fog really doesn't want.

Vision Skeins The same applies for this card as it does for Words of Wisdom, although this version gains the opponent an extra card, making it significantly worse.

Words of Wisdom instant speed draw-2 is good, but comes at the disadvantage of the opponent getting free cards. This is generally mitigated by the fact that the opponent most likely won't draw anything useful, as creatures and removal are useless against us. It also contributes to milling them out.
Mill
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Milling the opponent is an efficient way to win, given the slowness of the deck in general. Here are a few options to choose from. Again, there are many options, but a few stand out as being the most efficient.
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Curse of the Bloody Tome An excellent option, this can be Jace's Erasure 5-8. Athough it is not as elastic, it mills an extra card naturally over Erasure. It does cost an extra mana, however. This is a bigger deal than one might think, as this means it can't be tutored with Muddle the Mixture.
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Jace's Erasure Given that we draw a ludicrous amount of cards in a game, this card can mill a great many cards in a turn. It guarantees at least one, but can mill 6 cards and upwards easily.

Mind Sculpt An extra mana for an extra 2 cards milled, it is another efficient option, given that there is limited space for finishers.

Shriekhorn 6 cards milled for 1 mana, but over 3 turns. I find this card to be better than Tome Scour not only for its efficiency, but because it can often be used to disrupt players who manipulate their library with effects like Brainstorm. It also has the marginal advantage of leaving you with an extra permanent to sacrifice to Ulamog's Crusher.

Thought Scour Halfway between a draw spell and a mill spell, this card is not particularly good at either. It can speed up milling slightly while helping you go through your deck, but doesn't give you the card selection that other 1-mana spells do and isn't as efficient as other mill spells available. It is a good compromise between the two, and is also good at disrupting prepared Delver flips.

Tome Scour 1 mana for 5 cards is hard to beat from a mana to effect ratio.

Vision Charm What this spell lacks in mill-power it makes up for with its versatility and instant speed. It can screw with an opponents' mana for a turn, buying you time. It also can get rid of an attacking artifact creature, such as Myr Enforcer.

Stream of Thought This is exactly what we want a mill spell to do. Not only does it mill the opponent, but it also shuffles back important cards into our deck, such as Fogs, countermagic, or more card draw. As if it weren't already enough, it can also occasionally be replicated for an even greater effect.
Countermagic
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Turbo Fog wants to run a minimum of counterspells in order to protect itself against non-combat situations, for example against Combo or a giant Rolling Thunder, or to protect the Erasures. Again, there are tons of cards to choose from, but here are a few of the popular choices for this archetype:
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Arcane Denial This contributes to our milling plan and also replaces itself in your hand. Very efficient, but not the best choice against some decks.

Counterspell Can't go wrong with this one. The UU cost can sometimes be problematic, but shouldn't be an issue past the early game.

Faerie Trickery Excellent against decks using graveyard tech. As you mill, they gain an advantage. Faerie Trickery is very good against cards like Mnemonic Wall, Flame Jab, Haunted Fengraf or Dredge decks.

Memory Lapse With any mill, this becomes a better Counterspell, as the top card (the one that was countered) finds itself into their graveyard soon after.

Miscalculation While conditional counterspells are absolutely awful in the lategame, this one is acceptable because it can be cycled once it is no longer useful. I still would not recommend, as the counter just turns into a bad draw spell. We want the counters to stay useful throughout the game.

Muddle the Mixture This is a very relevant counter that also doubles up as a tutor for almost anything you'd need in your deck. It can fetch your Jace's Erasure, Moment's Peace or silver bullet for just three mana.

Negate Seeing as Turbo Fog will counter almost exclusively non-creature spells, this counter is very useful. There aren't very many creatures that the Fog spells won't handle, so this can easily take care of the rest.
Lands
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Because of the simplicity of Turbo Fog mana requirements and because it’s so slow, it can afford to play around in the mana base. A land count of 20-24 lands is perfectly acceptable. Including lands that enter tapped can be very beneficial to fix your mana. Keep in mind, however, that on certain crucial turns, a land coming into play tapped can mean losing the game. Turbo Fog needs to have the right mana at the right time every turn.
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Ash Barrens This land can come into play untapped and produce colourless mana when you need it, or can be cycled from your hand in order to fetch the basic of your choice. It is most likely the go-to option for Bant builds and is very comparable to Terramorphic Expanse in utility and function. The ability to be an untapped land in a pinch makes it a very attractive choice over the traditional fetch land, at the cost of needing to pay to actually fetch.

Bant Panorama An excellent option as well, as it creates mana and comes into play untapped. It can then be traded in for the correct basic land at instant speed in later turns. A good option for WUG builds.

Simic Growth Chamber An excellent way to both fix your mana and return Cycling lands back to your hand later in the game to draw cards with them.

Simic Guildgate If ever 4 Thornwood Falls aren't enough. Again, pay attention to the number of lands coming into play tapped. Having too many can be very dangerous.

Terramorphic Expanse/ Evolving Wilds A very important card when using Brainstorm and getting the colours you need.

Thornwood Falls The easiest way to fix your mana. The life gain is also very welcome for this deck.

Tranquil Thicket/ Lonely Sandbar Cycling lands are an easy inclusion for the deck, as you generally won't want more than 8-10 lands in play. In the late game, these cyclers are very welcome draws.

Tree of Tales/ Seat of the Synod These have a very marginal purpose in my own version. Their only purpose is for post-board matches where Quiet Disrepair is needed for the lifegain. These lands allow me to enchant them as early as turn two, making it almost impossible for Burn players to win. These artifacts enable Artificer's Epiphany very easily as well. They're also useful against the odd Wrench Mind.
Sideboard Cards
Sideboarding
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Obviously, while most decks win through combat damage in Pauper, some do not. The sideboard is there to remedy matchups where the opponent can interact with Turbo Fog's strategy. The common approach to sideboarding with a Turbo Fog deck is to shore up on specific weaknesses with general answers: more Counterspell.

Good cards to include in your sideboard, separated into general function:

Countermagic:
Counterspell: hits absolutely anything for just two mana. The only disadvantage is that it is UU, making it harder to cast in some scenarios.

More Arcane Denial and Muddle the Mixture: These cards can shore up weaknesses efficiently, being generally good counters and either draw spells or tutors.

Hindering Touch: This is a very narrow counter to hit storm cards (if your meta plays them) or just obnoxious combo decks.

Blue Elemental Blast/Hydroblast: The hit only Red cards, obviously. Good against Burn spells, or destroying a Thermo-Alchemist that you couldn't counter the first time.

Dispel: A surprisingly flexible counter, it will hit most of the cards Turbo Fog is worried about in the post-board.

Faerie Trickery: very light graveyard hate attached to a counter. it is the perfect card to answer a recurring Ghostly Flicker or Ulamog's Crusher that could be brought back with Haunted Fengraf.

Anti-Flying:
Scattershot Archer: Stops faeries dead in their tracks and can grind the Delver player to a halt. It can be very difficult for them to beat a resolved Archer.

Skyshroud Archer: A worse version of Scattershot Archer is still good enough to be considered playable. It can also shrink the attack of certain creatures to take less damage.

Aerial Volley: Can act as a mini board-wipe against Delver decks and also a counterspell against Spellstutter Sprite.

Hidden Spider: once active, it will block any flier all day and has enough power to also kill them.

Squall: perhaps too expensive, it can be a total blowout against decks relying on fliers.

Penumbra Spider: 4 mana is a lot to pay in Pauper, but this spider is particularly effective at fighting fliers in decks that also run removal (like Skred Delver, for example). It will eat up any common flier and has large enough toughness to survive. Once resolved, the opponent will have to sink at least two cards into it before they can continue their attack.
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Bounce/Removal:
Capsize: This will completely shut down other control decks with few win conditions.

Curse of Chains: Tapping down an Ulamog's Crusher every turn can win games.

Lignify: Lignify deals with the problematic Crusher while also taking away relevant abilities from creatures like Thermo-Alchemist.

Nature's Claim: Since we generally don't care about life totals, this is just a better Naturalize.

Graveyard Hate:
Tormod's Crypt: For paper players only as it was not released as a common online.

Relic of Progenitus: almost indisputably the best graveyard hate in the format. It replaces itself when you sacrifice it, so the cost of putting it in your deck is low. Its first ability can also keep an opponent's graveyard under control if they aren't filling it up too fast. It does hit all graveyards, which could be a disadvantage depending on your build. It also has the unfortunate benefit of being able to drain your opponent's time on MTGO, forcing them to click many more times, which can turn into a win condition itself (albeit of a dishonorable one).

Return to Nature: This card has enough modes that it is generally worth considering in your sideboard. One of its modes is likely to be useful in most matchups.

Faerie Macabre: Completely uncounterable, this card is difficult to interact with. Exiling two cards is often enough to disrupt someone's graveyard. It is particularly effective against Exhume, leaving you with a 2/2 flier to either beat face or chump block.

Other Cards
Nourish: The most amount of life for one card without dipping into White. It cancels out two Lightning Bolts with just one card, making it an effective way to deal with Burn decks.

Quiet Disrepair Not enough good can be said about this card. It is absolutely essential when fighting Burn, and can completely turn the game in your favour when fighting slower decks like MBC. Not only does it gain massive amounts of life, but it can also destroy problems artifacts and enchantments. This card is so useful that I'm currently using one in my main deck, and have never regretted it.

Reclaim: This versatile card will get you back what you need: a Fog, a Draw spell, a Terramorphic Expanse, a Counterspell. The only catch is that you only get it the following turn unless you also have a draw spell to play afterwards.

Rust: Because the Turbo Fog deck has a tendency to play from the graveyard a lot, something to fight graveyard hate is sometimes necessary. Rust hits most of the graveyard hate out there: Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progenitus and Nihil Spellbomb. These artifacts are sacrificed as part of their activation cost, so they hit the graveyard without doing a thing.

Weather the Storm has potential to lock up a match against difficult matchups like Burn. There are many decks that will easily play 3+ cards in a turn, netting easily 12 life or more for just two mana. The only other spell capable of comparing with that much raw life is Crypt Incursion.

Jace's Phantasm: Against the decks where you board this, getting to 10 cards in graveyard is very easy.
It essentially becomes a faster clock than Jace's Erasure ever could be and can take the opponent completely by surprise. Another important function is as a blocker against fliers like Delver, being the biggest flier in Pauper to date.
Sample Decks
UG Deck
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Turbo Fog by Upkeep
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Turbo Fog by robonsmith, 5-0 finish in a MTGO League 2017/12/06
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Turbo Fog by firstshot, 5-0 finish in a MTGO League 2017/08/13
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Turbo Fog by Thirdear218, 5-0 finish in a MTGO League 2017-08-18

Fogs (12)

Countermagic (7)

Artifacts/ Enchantments (6)

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Turbo Fog by basking_devil, 5-0 finish in a MTGO League 2017/01/28
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Bant Variants
WUG Decks
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White offers a lot of interesting options for Turbo Fog that can shore up on some of its weaknesses. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of running a 3-colour deck with subpar dual lands, which sometimes results in a loss. Some players get rid of the Green entirely. I think that the value of Moment's Peace is too great in itself to forego Green.

White gives access to superior Fog effects, namely Moment of Silence, its' variants, Dawn Charm and Riot Control. White has many other 1 mana Fog effects, namely Holy Day and Ethereal Haze. Just about every W-costing Fog spell is better than Holy Day, however. It also opens up avenues for the sideboard, such as Circle of Protection: Red and Benevolent Unicorn. The Circle is a really powerful incentive to add white, as it improves the Burn matchup significantly.
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Here's an example of a WUG variant:
WUG TurboFog
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Another interesting approach (proposed by Shoebaka) that tries to unite the stability of 2 colours with the greatness of CoP: Red is a UG deck with a small White splash:
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UGw Fog
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In this deck, the single Plains is found or fetched only to include White sideboard cards.

Matchups
Matchups
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Although these are the casual forums, I feel it’s necessary to include a matchup analysis for many of the most common archetypes in Pauper. This will give you a better idea of the decks’ strength and weaknesses and whether it’s worth playing in your playgroup/local game store.
DECKS IN RED USE CARDS FROM THE ONLINE BAN LIST.
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Affinity:
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Overall analysis: Favorable. Affinity is largely based on dealing damage through creatures, so Turbo Fog is well positioned to fight it. I evaluate this matchup at 70-30 in favor of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, -2 Think Twice, -1 Preordain +3 Dispel, +1 Counterspell. If Disciple of the Vault was seen, board in Counterspells and more Arcane Denial.

Cards to look out for: Fling + Atog is the big thing to look out for here. Galvanic Blast can also do a nasty amount of damage. Disciple of the Vault, although unpopular, may show up from time to time and can be quite problematic. Post-board Pyroblast is also quite possible.

Strategy discussion: Play your fogs and draw as many cards as possible. As soon as you figure out it's Affinity, dig for countermagic. a single counter will often be enough to shut them down in the first game. Post-board you'll want more. Take as little damage as possible, because they have quite a bit of reach with Galvanic Blast. Post-board, Dispel does a good job countering the real threats: Fling and Galvanic Blast.

[youtube]rdgUZ2We2OU[/youtube]
Black Aggro:
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Overall analysis: Very Favorable. This deck has absolutely no way of getting out of the lock and has countless dead cards to draw. I evaluate this matchup at 90-10 for Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: No boarding. However, If you see discard post-board, take out some more expensive fogs or Quiet Disrepair and add a bit more countermagic.

Cards to look out for: The only common cards that has even the slightest chance of killing are Sign in Blood (with enough damage done beforehand),Bump in the Night or Tyrant's Choice. Countermagic and/ or Quiet Disrepair should be more than enough to put you out of their range. The most dangerous things to look out for are Hymn to Tourach and Duress out of the sideboard.

Strategy discussion: Black Aggro kills on turn 5 on average, which gives plenty of time to set up. You want to be fogging as soon as possible however, as it stops them from shutting down Vampire Lacerator and keeps you out of range of Burn spells that could just kill you at a low life total. Draw, Fog, Mill, Win.

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Black Control:
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Overall analysis: slightly unfavourable. This matchup varies, depending how much discard MBC is using, and if Turbo Fog can find the countermagic in time to match their Gray Merchant of Asphodels. I evaluate this matchup up at 40-60 in favour of MBC.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Think Twice, -2 Preordain, -2 Respite, +3 Counterspell, +2 Quiet Disrepair. If they seem very discard-heavy, board in more countermagic and take out more Fogs.

Cards to look out for: Postboard Duress can ruin your day, Corrupt is a good card against you, as they can build up quite an array of swamps. Coupled with discard, you may not have the counterspell in hand to deal with it. Gray Merchant of Asphodel is also quite deadly, as their creatures pile up and devotion can be very high. Cuombajj Witches, like any other pinger, is very bad for Turbo Fog, and the ping-back has absolutely no effect. Crypt Rats is also a very effective way to win for MBC.

Strategy discussion: Keep your life total high. Don't hesitate to Transmute Muddle the Mixture for Quiet Disrepair. Your life will drop drastically from Gray Merchant of Asphodel (unless it can be countered). If you're fighting a discard-heavy version, always play the artifact lands last in order to fight Wrench Mind as much as possible. Cuombajj Witches is easily countered with Disrepairs. If you manage to have them in top-deck mode, then things look a lot more favorable, as Turbo Fog out-draws just about everyone. An early Erasure can hopefully mill some of the deadly spells. Post-board Duress on turn 1 is a reality, and is a good reason to mulligan away opening hands with a Jace's Erasure that you can't protect with Brainstorm. They have a ton of dead cards in this matchup, so it can be rather easy to leave up a counter for the all-important Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Aside from Corrupt, this is likely the only card worth countering. One of the biggest mistakes MBC players make is playing their Gray Merchant on curve. They so badly want to resolve their creature that they do it with only a few points of Devotion, essentially wasting the effect. Don't bother countering in such a situation.

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Burn:
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Overall analysis: Slightly unfavourable. I evaluate it at about 40-60 in favour of Burn. Because they have so few creatures and so much straight burn, your fogs are almost useless. With mainboard Quiet Disrepair, the matchup improves significantly, but you chances lie in games two and three.

Cards to board in/out: -4 Respite, -4 Tangle, +2 Quiet Disrepair, +3 Counterspell, +3 Dispel.

Cards to look out for: All creatures should be countered on sight, as they represent a greater threat once all Fogs have been boarded out. Constant sources of damage are the worst thing for Turbo Fog. Curse of the Pierced Heart, Firebrand Archer and Thermo-Alchemist are the typical culprits. Look out for post-board Pyroblasts.

Strategy discussion: Quiet Disrepair is the very best tool you have to beating Burn. With artifact lands, you can lay them down as early as turn 2. Playing it on their Curse of the Pierced Heart is even better because they can't destroy the artifact or Pyroblast your Jace's Erasure. Multiples mean trouble for them. Don't hesitate to Transmute Muddle the Mixture for other Disrepairs. Other than that, slow them down with your countermagic while your life total slowly gets out of their reach and mill them. An important thing to remember is that your opponent's triggered abilities during upkeep will always resolve first, because they are placed last on the stack. What this means is that they always deal the damage with Curse of the Pierced Heart before you gain life with Quiet Disrepair, so you need to make sure you can survive to gain the life back. If your life total is already low and being pinged down by Thermo-Alchemist, consider transmuting for Lignify instead, as it will at least stop the bleeding immediately.

[youtube]bqOKw5koYRE[/youtube]
Delver:
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Overall analysis: This is just about Turbo Fog's worst matchup . Delver's efficient creatures, tempo and countermagic make for a very difficult deck to properly counter. The Delver player will let you draw cards and just whittle you down slowly and counter your fogs at crucial moments. I evaluate this matchup at 10-90 in Delver's favour.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Brainstorm, -2 Arcane Denial, -4 Muddle the Mixture, -1 Quiet Disrepair, +4 Aerial Volley, +2 Dispel, +3 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Countermagic is your best friend and your worst enemy. Look out for opposing Counterspells and try to work around Mana Leak. Spellstutter Sprite combined with Snap are also combinations to look out for. Counter the Faerie as often as possible. Post-board Echoing Truth is also a reality in most decks, but nothing much else comes out of the sideboard against TurboFog.

Strategy discussion:A very important part of fighting Delver is to get as many lands into play as possible, trying never to fall behind. A useful trick I've discovered is to use Jace's Erasure as counter bait. If you land one in the early game, that's all you'll need to kill them. Resolving your Fogs is the priority. Don't let your life go down too low, because you might find yourself dead because of a countered Fog. Try to keep the life total above 10. Having an early Scattershot Archer will turn off their faeries, and two will destroy all their flyers except Spire Golem. If they try to counter your spells with Spellstutter Sprite, you can tap the archer in response to the enters the battlefield ability of the faerie to destroy it (and all other faeries) and your spell will resolve.

[youtube]JBwCgYV07jQ[/youtube]
8Post:
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Overall analysis: Slightly Favorable. This matchup is a coinflip, but improves slightly after boarding. I evaluate this matchup at 55-45 for Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -3 Respite, +3 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Firebolt can deal the final points of damage. Rolling Thunder and Ulamog's Crusher are the typical win conditions. Echoing Truth is also a very frustrating card to play against, if you have 2-3 Erasure in play. Other than that, be prepared for Pyroblast in games 2-3. 8post can run 0-6 counters. The more they have, the worse for you.

Strategy discussion: 8post runs so few win conditions that you can take your sweet time winning. Because of the ludicrous amount of cards they draw in a game, you find yourself having to do very little milling. Mill them as much as possible, however, because you want to be able to get as many win conditions into their graveyard as possible so as to not have to fight countermagic later. The draw spells like Words of Wisdom are at their best here, because they keep their hand so full you force them to discard what they drew, turning the card advantage into card filtering. Once you figure out what they're playing, dig for counterspells as fast as possible. You want to be able to answer their few threats. You can afford to take quite a bit of damage from their Mulldrifters, but not too much. It makes it that much easier for them to kill you with Rolling Thunder or Burn spells. You want get all of your land drops. This is useful not only for Ulamog's Crusher, but also towards counter battles. Spore Cloud or Tangle (or moment of silence for the splash) is extremely good here, since it's stops Ulamog from activating Annihilator for a turn.
Elves:
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Overall Analysis:
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This matchup can vary an enormous amount depending on the makeup of the Elf deck. In general, however, Turbo Fog is favoured, thanks to locking out combat and countermagic. I evaluate this matchup at 75-25 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Think Twice, +2 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Most Elf decks stick to a Timberwatch Elf and swarm-style victory, but will usually have one Viridian Longbow in their maindeck and a second in their sideboard, mostly as a good card versus Delver. Kaervek's Torch, Mob Justice and Ulamog's Crusher are cards that I've played against in this matchup. If you see Ulamog's Crusher, take out another Fog or Draw Spell for Lignify. Other than that, you can sometimes see off colour threats or countermagic, but they can make Gleeful Sabotage very scary, very fast.

Strategy Discussion: Never play more than one Jace's Erasure at a time, or two at most if you didn't manage to play one early. They can create a massive amount of Gleeful Sabotages that will be impossible to counter. Their Distant Melody will typically draw them 5 cards or more, which helps with the milling plan. In the late game, this card is unplayable due to the sheer amount of elves on the field, essentially milling themselves to death. Dig through your library for a counter (or two) in case they play an Ulamog's Crusher or Kaervek's Torch. If you do see a surprise Ulamog, maybe board in removal like Lignify or Journey to Nowhere or Faerie Trickery. Be sure to counter their Viridian Longbow when it comes up, or be ready with a Quiet Disrepair and hope they can't kill you on the following turn.

[youtube]8nKIkA-WCQ0[/youtube]
Eye-Candy:
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Overall Analysis: Favourable. They depend on a single attack to win, and it is at the earliest turn three or four. This gives Turbo Fog plenty of time to set up a Fog barrier and win. I evaluate this matchup at 65-35 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -3 Think Twice, -1 Quiet Disrepair, -2 Arcane Denial +3 Dispel, +3 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: mainboard countermagic and even more postboard can surprise you and lose you the game. Look out for conditional counters like Spell Pierce and Daze. Most decks now run 1-2 mainboard Dispels. Flaring Pain is also a possibility out of the board, so be sure to have double counter backup in game two as early as possible.

Strategy Discussion: Don't use your Transmutes on Muddle the Mixture unless absolutely necessary. They are extremely important when fighting opposing countermagic and Flaring Pain that could cost you the game.Fog and Undergrowth are very nice to have here in order to leave up mana for counters, so save them for later turns if possible. You can go to reasonably low life totals if they have very little burn. going to 6-7 life is still rather safe. Eye-Candy will also give you plenty of time to sculpt your hand before you start Fogging every turn, so take advantage of those 2-3 first turns to get greedy.

[youtube]om1ruMF854Y[/youtube]
Familiars (WUB):
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Overall Analysis: This is a difficult matchup in that if you do not find countermagic before they combo off, there is very little you can do to stop them from winning. I evaluate this matchup at 35-75 in favour of Familiars. Note that I am covering the more popular Esper (WUB) version of the deck, rather than other combinations.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, -3 Fog, -2 Tangle, -3 Think Twice, +3 Counterspell, +3 Dispel, +3 Faerie Macabre. Depending on the pieces you want to fight, you could choose to include Scattershot Archer in order to destroy Cloud of Faeries and other flyers.
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Cards to look out for: This is a combo deck. It requires many pieces to go off. They typically run Sage's Row Denizen as the win condition (most often a 1-of). You will sometimes see Gray Merchant of Asphodel or Bloodhunter Bat as win conditions. Other important pieces are Cloud of Faeries, Mnemonic Wall (sometimes Archaeomancer), Snap and Ghostly Flicker. Coupled with Ravnica Bounce Lands, they can create infinite mana, and infinite creatures EOT for infinite mill or life loss. Another important card is Reaping the Graves, which makes it even harder to disrupt.

Strategy Discussion: The best advice I can offer is to choose an aspect of the combo that you wish to disrupt, and stick to it. For example, you can choose to only ever counter Ghostly Flicker (something I often do, personally), in order to lock them off this important piece. Using Scattershot Archer and countermagic to disrupt Cloud of Faeries is also a possibility, but might be a bit more complex since you are using a mix of removal and countermagic. If you are using instant-speed removal, killing a Cloud of Faeries in response to Snap is a very powerful play, as it sets them back eight mana, cost them two cards, and often leaves them tapped out. Another important thing to remember is not to neglect finding Fogs in the late game, as they are definitely capable of winning through combat. Familiars can build up a surprisingly huge board presence that can go for a lot of damage. Eight Fogs (twelve with Moment's Peace Flashback) should be quite enough.
Goblins:
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Overall analysis: Favorable. A deck running upwards 30 creatures is bound to have a bad time against Turbo Fog. Depending on the makeup of Goblins however, they may stand a better chance than expected. I evaluate this matchup at 75-25 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Arcane Denial, +2 Quiet Disrepair.

Cards to look out for: Post-board Flame Jab. This card will wreck you by itself if unchecked. It will find its’ way into their graveyard because of your milling. Combined with some of the early damage they may have done with their creatures, they may be able to finish you off with Flame Jab and other burn spells. To a somewhat lesser extent, Death Spark can also be problematic. With their 8 Goblin Sledders, they can turn each one of their creatures into a 1-damage spell. Granted it’s not very good because you have to pay the cost of the creature, the cost to bring back Death Spark and then play it. The damage does add up. Other than that, look out for burn: Lightning Bolt, Fireblast and Reckless Abandon are all played cards in Goblins.

Strategy discussion: This creature matchup is the most important to have early fogs up and keeping them up, to avoid damage from creatures as much as possible to keep your life total high. This will avoid being killed by burn spells in the late game. Save as many counterspells as possible for the killing blow of a burn spell.
Handlock Control:
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This matchup is fairly even. Because of our lack of board presence, if the opponent achieves their lock, there is almost nothing Turbo Fog can do about it. However, Turbo Fog is usually equipped with lots of countermagic in the sideboard to deal specific pieces of this deck, which reduces it to just another slow control deck. I evaluate this matchup at 55-45 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Arcane Denial, -1 Think Twice, -1 Quiet Disrepair, -2 Fog, +3 Dispel, +3 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Chittering Rats, Archaeomancer/Mnemonic Wall, Ghostly Flicker, Reaping the Graves.

Strategy discussion: Handlock can only establish its lock in the late stages of the game, so there is lots of time to prepare for it. Just like against any control deck, the sooner you resolve a Jace's Erasure, the better. If possible, try to counter just a single piece of their lock in order to maximize your chances of denying it from them. This will usually mean countering Ghostly Flicker, as it can be targeted by all of our counters. It is however also a good idea to counter a Chittering Rats, but only if you are very low on cards and/or have very few draw spells in hand. Otherwise, a well-timed Reaping the Graves will quickly undo all of your progress. Handlock runs a surprisingly small number of counters in their 75 (usually as low as 5), so it's fairly easy to win counter wars. Keep in mind that Archaeomancer will usually net them another Counterspell.

[youtube]OfcD9zh0wCU[/youtube]
Heroic:
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Overall analysis: This is an excellent matchup, just like any Mono-White deck. They should have little to no interaction in the first game and only a few sideboard cards in the second. I evaluate this matchup at 90-10 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: No boarding to do. If you do see a lot of removal, take out Quiet Disrepair for Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Post-board, Patrician's Scorn or Fragmentize. If you're using artifact lands, Dust to Dust seems to be a popular inclusion.

Strategy discussion: Do what Turbo Fog does best: Draw cards, cast Fogs, mill them. You can usually go to terribly low life totals, since they have no way to dealing the last points of damage, usually. It is possible that they goldfish into a very fast kill, as early as turn 4-5. This can be difficult for any deck to beat, but it's not impossible for Turbo Fog. I recommend not playing too many Jace's Erasures at once in the second game, since you don't know what kind of removal they are using. It's possible to play them to end the game on the same turn.

[youtube]tdPQ5zhJsHo[/youtube]
Hexproof:
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Overall analysis: Favorable. This an extremely easy matchup. Along with Stompy strategies, it's among the easiest, because it can't interact outside of combat. I evaluate this matchup at 80-20 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, +1 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Disenchant, Oblivion Ring, Naturalize, Gleeful Sabotage, Ray of Revelation. A card that is becoming increasingly popular in sideboards is Flaring Pain which they can cast off Abundant Growth.

Strategy discussion: Just play your game. Draw cards, make sure you have a fog handy (you'll be facing down a very big hexproof creature pretty fast) and mill them. Keeping double counter open in case of Flaring Pain is a consideration. They will typically end up in the graveyard, which means it can still be used once. Always look at what's in the opponents' graveyard. This is valuable information both pre and post-board.

[youtube]uQwpCsObAOM[/youtube]
Infect:
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Overall analysis: Favorable. Infect can pull wins out of nowhere with nothing you can do about it, but that’s part of the game. Most of the time though, you are in control, and there’s nothing they can do to win. I evaluate this matchup at 80-20 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, +1 Counterspell

Cards to look out for: Glistener Elf on turn one. This opens up the possibility that if you don’t have Fog or Undergrowth , you might flat out lose. It's also very common to see Nature's Claim post-board

Strategy discussion: Try and mulligan into a hand with plenty of Fogs, ideally a 1-mana fog. Don’t be afraid to let them use their pump spells, then evaluating if it’s worth using a fog for it. Resolve your draw spells at the end of their turn.
Inside Out Combo:
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Overall Analysis: This is a terrible matchup. The opponent runs plenty of countermagic, can combo off very early and even sometimes has maindeck Gigadrowse, which is very hard for our deck to beat. I evaluate this matchup at 10-90 in favour of Inside Out combo.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, -3 Muddle the Mixture, -2 Gush, +3 Dispel, +3 Counterspell. If you run cheap bounce spells or removal like Seal of Removal, Snapback, or Lignify, these are some of the best options to fight them.

Cards to look out for: Gigadrowse will lose you the game if you aren't prepared for it. Otherwise, Circular Logic and Dispel will help force through their combo.

Strategy Discussion: Counter Tireless Tribe if you can, this makes casting Circular Logic much more difficult for them. You can also disrupt Circular Logic by running Relic of Progenitus or any other graveyard hate. Otherwise, non-instant answers can be effective at disrupting the combo, like Lignify. If the opponent casts Gigadrowse on your end step, you're about to lose. If you have countermagic, counter a copy that is targeting a Forest to try to still have a Fog up on their turn. If they don't have countermagic on their turn, they can't combo off.
Izzet Control:
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Overall Analysis: Slightly unfavorable. Many of these decks will pack plenty of Burn or Bounce that just isn't effective against Turbo Fog, so they have many dead cards. The Mill plan is also extremely effective against them, because they draw so many cards. That being said, their creatures are very efficient, and when backed up with Countermagic, can take the game. I evaluate this matchup at 45-55 in favour of Izzet Control.

Cards to board in/out: -3 Fog, -1 Tangle, -2 Preordain, +3 Dispel, +3 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Their Countermagic is what will end up killing you. Be very wary of Dispel, as it can win many a counter war. Delver of Secrets on turn 1 is also not fun.

Strategy Discussion: The first game can go either way. The fact that they are forced to tap to counter on their turns is a huge advantage for Turbo Fog. Use Vision Skeins or similar cards when they pass the turn with a full hand; this forces them to discard instead of netting card advantage. When they tap out for a Mulldrifter, there is a window to play Jace's Erasure (ideally backed up with counters). Use your Moment's Peace as bait. When they counter it and are tapped out, you can then net greater advantages with Tangle, Respite or Spore Cloud. Quiet Disrepair works overtime in this matchup when played in the early game, as they apply so little pressure that it can easily equate to several Fogs when facing Mulldrifter beatdown, unflipped Delvers or Sea Gate Oracles. This saves the precious Fogs for when they actually matter.
Kuldotha Kitty:
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Overall analysis: Favourable. Being aware of the reach that this Kitty deck has is half the battle. They have almost no way to interact with Turbo Fog pre-board, but tend to have a lot of answers in games two and three. I evaluate this matchup at 70-30 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Fog, -1 Arcane Denial, -2 Preordain, +3 Counterspell, +2 Quiet Disrepair.

Cards to look out for: Pre-board, burn spells like Lightning Bolt and Galvanic Blast are staples of the archetype. Other burn spells like Firebolt are also fairly common. After sideboarding, expect to see Pyroblast, Flaring Pain, Oblivion Ring and Kor Sanctifiers. If going up against the deck with a Blue splash (Jeskai), countermagic like Negate and Dispel are possible, as well as Curse of the Bloody Tome.

Strategy Discussion: In the first game, always have a counter in hand in case they go for a push with their burn spells to finish you off. They run about 10 in their mainboard. Be careful not to take too much damage from creatures. Keeping your life total high either with Fogs and/or Quiet Disrepair will make this push even less likely. Hold onto your Respites until you think you can squeeze the most life out of them. Kitty decks are often very slow and durdly in the beginning, as they bounce their permanents to draw cards or gain life. This should give you a decent window to prepare. After boarding, make sure to keep countermagic up for their enchantment hate or countermagic, as they might be holding up Pyroblast or Blue counters if they are splashing the colour. Quiet Disrepair should be able to keep you out of reach of burn spells, so they are no longer necessary to counter. Flaring Pain, while not a common card in Kuldotha sideboards, might just catch you off-guard if you're not prepared for it. Try to stabilize around 13-15 life in order to not lose to burn spells, countermagic or Flaring Pain.

[youtube]maqZGiZHEiA[/youtube]
Mystical Teachings:
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Overall analysis: This is a favourable matchup. Although we have practically no use for Fog effects in this matchup, resolving a Jace's Erasure and countering a key spell are all it takes. They have so many dead cards that most of their draws are just as useless as an aggro players'. I evaluate this matchup at 75-25 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -4 Respite, -4 Tangle, +4 Counterspell, +3 Dispel, +1 Lignify.

Cards to look out for: Crypt Rats/Grim Harvest combo, Capsize, Evincar's Justice, Curse of the Bloody Tome.

Strategy Discussion: First game, resolving an early Jace's Erasure is usually all you need. If you don't have one early, make sure to have counters to protect it. Then, they will typically have 1 non-combat win condition, such as Capsize. Mill it or counter it, and you win. In game two, I find it important to leave 1-2 Quiet Disrepairs in the main deck to fight a resolved Curse of the Bloody Tome, which is a big problem for us. With a ton more countermagic, however, it should be very easy to completely control the game, and resolve all your spells. They will have extra counters from the sideboard, but not nearly enough to get rid of all their dead removal spells. Turbo Fog is the proactive player, and also has more counters.

[youtube]XXLTecsPva4[/youtube]
Slivers (GW):
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Overall analysis: Very favorable. This is among the easiest matchups, as Slivers have very few ways to interact outside of combat. I evaluate this matchup at 80-20 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, +1 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Keep an eye on Poison counters from Virulent Sliver. Post-board Ray of Revelation is very possible, so boarding in more countermagic is a good idea. You may even want Dispel instead of Denial, for the mana.

Strategy discussion: It should be a very easy first game. They will usually have a very fast start, forcing you to have a Fog every turn from turn four and on. Keep a eye on your Poison counters and check the combat math twice before letting anything through. You can afford to go to 1-2 life without a problem. Post-board, I don't recommend forcing an early Jace's Erasure that you won't be able to protect. as it might just get destroyed. Having 1-2 counters available when you play your enchantment can keep it alive.

[youtube]DdoGFq46tu4[/youtube]
Stompy:
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Overall analysis: Very favorable. This is a very easy match. In fact, probably the easiest. I evaluate this matchup at 80-20 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, +1 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Any enchantment removal like Natural State, but especially Gleeful Sabotage. Sabotage is a 4-of in pretty much every competitive Stompy list. Having a counter ready in the postboard when playing your Erasures is a safe bet. Playing too many at once might also result in being blown out by Gleeful Sabotage. Viridian Longbow is sometimes seen in sideboards to fight Delver, but can deal a surprising amount of damage coupled with Quirion Ranger and excess mana in the late game. Gut Shot is also a relatively common singleton in sideboards that can take you by surprise when going to 1 life.

Strategy discussion: This should be a really easy game. Play out your fogs, draw some cards and mill them. If you see Viridian Longbow in game two, consider adding the Quiet Disrepair again to fight it. While the first game is usually very easy, fighting the enchantment-hate post-board can sometimes be difficult. If you manage to play an Erasure early, feel free to hold back other erasures to prevent a blowout from Gleeful Sabotage. If you only find them later, be prepared to protect them with countermagic.

[youtube]_qaNjchZGag[/youtube]
Storm:
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Overall analysis: This matchup is for paper pauper players who don't follow the online ban list. If people play Storm in your playgroup, you're out of luck with Turbo Fog. While the matchup isn't impossible, it's highly dependent on the opening hand you draw. I evaluate this matchup at 40-60 in favour of the Storm player.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Think Twice, -3 Fog, -1 Quiet Disrepair, +3 Counterspell, +3 Dispel.

Cards to look out for: Grapeshot. This card is the win condition to be most worried about. It's about the only thing that can actually kill the Turbo Fog player, who can Fog an Empty the Warrens, should it come out.

Strategy discussion:Opening with countermagic is just about the only way to win against Storm. You might be lucky in game one, or you might not. As soon as you see them drop their first land, you should know what to look for. Try and avoid using your Vision Skeins and Words of Wisdom, because those cards will end up killing you. While it's unprofitable to counter a Grapeshot, as it will generally still create a deadly amount of copies, it's countering the spell right before to stop the chain that will be most useful. Countering Manamorphose after they played a bunch of spells and have mostly black mana is enough to stop them. Countering their last spell before they go off will buy you an enormous amount of time, because it usually means that they sacrificed all their lands and will take multiple turns to recover. They may even discard their win condition to an Ideas Unbound that they played that turn. The matchup improves a bunch after boarding, but it's still a matter of luck.
Tokens:
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Overall Analysis: This is a good matchup. Being combat-oriented and being usually mono-white, they have very few ways of interacting with Turbo Fog. Being a rather slow deck, it also gives Turbo Fog plenty of time to set up. It also has many dead removal cards. I evaluate this matchup at 90-10 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -1 Quiet Disrepair, +1 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Patrician's Scorn is a common sideboard card for these decks, as it's an easy card to cast for them. Beware the instant speed. It's also possible to see Oblivion Rings and other random enchantment removal, such as Kor Sanctifiers.

Strategy Discussion: The first game should be very easy. Make sure to find a counterspell and leave mana open for it at all times in games two if you have one or multiple Jace's Erasures out, even if it means not playing an instant-speed draw spell at the end of their turn, since they could respond with a Patrician's Scorn.

[youtube]KMZIFDHaHxU[/youtube]
Tortured Existence:
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Overall Analysis: This is a very fair matchup. Turbo Fog has a slight advantage in the first game, but TE evens the playing field by having efficient and recurrable hate post-board. I evaluate this matchup at 50-50.

Cards to board in/out: -4 Tangle, -4 Preordain, +2 Quiet Disrepair, +3 Counterspell, +3 Fearie Macabre.

Cards to look out for: Sylvok Replica, Thrull Surgeon and Crypt Rats are the main concerns once Tortured Existence hits the table.

Strategy Discussion: Keep your life total as high as possible. Going under 10 life could be a big problem if they play Crypt Rats. They'll have difficulty in getting enough Black sources to take you down in one activation . Don't hesitate to play 1 Quiet Disrepair for the life gain; it will most likely be necessary when facing multiple Crypt Rats or heavy recursion. In game 2, keep Tormod's Crypt in hand so the opponent doesn't actively play around it (unless you feel discard coming). Faerie Trickery targetting one of the high-impact cards that they recur will put a stop to it once and for all. Playing Jace's Erasure is not a priority; they mill themselves plenty through dredge and other abilities. Counter and destroy as many Tortured Existences as you can to prevent them from infinitely destroying your enchantments and attacking your hand.

[youtube]Vh2zEnqG72o[/youtube]
Tron (Temur):
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Overall Analysis: Slightly favorable. Tron spends a lot of time and resources to assemble its manabase, and has a few dead cards. They are very threat-light, which makes it even easier to assemble the right countermagic. Lastly, the fact that they draw so many cards facilitates winning through mill. I evaluate this matchup at 70-30 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -3 Respite, +3 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Ulamog's Crusher and Rolling Thunder are the win conditions. Condescend is sometimes seen. Post-board Pyroblasts are typically aimed at Jace's Erasure.

Strategy Discussion: Ulamog's Crusher should be the only creature worthy of countering. Post-board, There is a Lignify with Crusher's name on it, making it possible to use counters on other things. Rolling Thunder is the only other spell that is of any real harm, and it is easily countered. If you see Condescend, it may be worth boarding in Dispel. In the first turns of the game, start looking for countermagic as fast as possible, as well as Quiet Disrepair. Disrepair will keep you out of range of a Rolling Thunder you might not be prepared for, as well as negating damage from Mulldrifter so you can save your Fogs for when they play bigger creatures. Keeping your life total high (15-20+) is important, so Fog often. Getting Jace's Erasure is a low priority, as they draw as many cards as Turbo Fog naturally, so a few hits from Erasure should be enough to stay ahead while they draw themselves to death.

[youtube]SaHS7immTKo[/youtube]
Tron (Murasa):
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Overall Analysis: This version of Torn runs a lot of countermagic and feeds off of its graveyard. Once they have access to their mana, they can loop countermagic and draw until Turbo Fog is out of resources, after which they bounce the board away with Dinrova Horror. I evaluate this matchup at 25-75 in favour of Murasa Tron.

Cards to board in/out: -3 Fog, -4 Tangle, -1 Quiet Disrepair, -1 Muddle the Mixture, +3 Dispel, +3 Counterspell, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Capsize.

Cards to look out for: They establish the loop with Ghostly Flicker and Mnemonic Wall. They will typically recur Prohibit or Pyroblast, but can establish a full lock with two Walls. Dinrova Horror being flickered will bounce the board away in a few turns end the game. Pulse of Murasa can get back Walls or Horrors that have been countered or milled. Some decks still splash Red for Rolling Thunder.

Strategy Discussion: Counter their Mnemonic Walls whenever you can, as this is how you will get locked out of the game. Wait for them to pick their targets for a wall or Pulse of Murasa before using your graveyard hate. Playing an early Jace's Erasure is good, but be ready have to fight for it, especially in post-board games with Pyroblasts. Countering their value spells like Mystical Teachings and Forbidden Alchemy can be good because it reduces their access to countermagic in their graveyard to recur later. Taking out many Fogs also opens up the possibility of being beaten down by Mulldrifters and random creatures. Save your Fogs for as long as you can to deal with bigger board states.

[youtube]pnog9vvWCCk[/youtube]
White Weenie:
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Overall analysis: Favorable. Like every creature-based aggro deck, the matchup is fairly easy. I evaluate this matchup at 80-20 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Quiet Disrepair, +2 Counterspell. If Oblivion Ring is seen in any game, it may be a good idea to leave Quiet Disrepair in or put it back, as it's a further answer to their removal.

Cards to look out for: There are a surprisingly high number of cards to look out for. Kor Sanctifiers makes its way into many WW sideboards. Oblivion Ring is also a possibility. Do not underestimate the power of Kor Skyfisher. It can reuse the Sanctifiers, or deal lethal direct damage with Icatian Javelineers. Mana Tithe is also becoming a popular maindeck card and should be taken into account when possible.

Strategy discussion: Play your game. Hold back your fogs until you reach 13-9 life, depending on how their board has developed. This gives you time to set up and still avoid lethal damage later on. Try to get the most out of your fogs, especially Tangle. It can gain you a whole turn to cast your Jace's Erasure or just draw more cards on your turn. The enchantment-hate they show you will determine how you play your Erasures. An enchantment wipe like Patrician's Scorn means you play them only 1 or 2 at a time, while a single removal spell should encourage you to play as many as possible to mill them faster.

[youtube]peX_-bLfJcI[/youtube]
Zoo (Domain):
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Overall Analysis: This matchup varies a lot depending on the Zoo deck. Having access to every colour makes it difficult to know what to expect. The deck does have a number of staple cards, and the fact that it spends a lot of time preparing its mana base and usually can only play 1-2 spells per turn until very late gives Turbo Fog a lot of time to prepare. I evaluate this matchup at 55-45 in favour of Turbo Fog.

Cards to board in/out: -2 Arcane Denial, +2 Counterspell.

Cards to look out for: Tribal Flames, Lightning Bolt, other burn spells, Qasali Pridemage, Ray of Revelation, Pyroblast

Strategy Discussion: Tribal Flames for 5 is worth countering at all stages of the game. Other than that, most Burn spells that aren't lethal can most likely be let through. Quiet Disrepair will eventually make up for the lost life and keep you out of Burn range. Their Burn gives them a lot of reach, so it's important to not let too many attacks through. The second aspect of Zoo that Turbo Fog needs to address is the enchantment hate. Qasali Pridemage is often maindecked, and Ray of Revelation is a popular sideboard card, and is very effective against Turbo Fog. Spotting the opportune times and critical turns when this card will come out are essential to fighting it. Unearth on Pridemage is also a possibility.

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rogerandover
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Post by rogerandover » 4 years ago

Yay, glad to see you here, Upkeep!

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motleyslayer
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Post by motleyslayer » 4 years ago

thanks for the primer, I think that this will be my next pauper deck. I'm mostly waiting for enough interest in the format to build another deck

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