The Replenish Player's Guide to Matchups - Conclusion
**In part 1
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Flores Black (he calls it Maher Oath but let's face it, that's a horrible name):
+1 Ring of Gix , +1 Phyrexian Processor , +1 Circle of Protection: Black , +1 Meekstone
-1 Energy Field , -2 Seal of Cleansing , -1 Parallax Tide
Additional Sideboarding: More copies of Ring of Gix or Phyrexian Processor , Seal of Removal, Light of Day
You gotta give this deck respect now, regardless of what you may have thought of it before. Still, all but one of the cards lie with you game one. That one card is Stormgald Cabal. Their game is going to be Duress and Unmask to stall you followed by a quick Stormgald Cabal, which they would then hope to follow up with a clock. Use Brainstorm to protect Attunement and Replenish if you can, or use Enlightened Tutor , but worry more about that Cabal. If they don't get it, they're playing bad Suicide Black against you and you'll be fine. Every now and then Negator will get you, but not often. This means that if you're not under pressure, your primary goal is to make sure you don't mind if he drops a Cabal on you, and Diamonds leading to Parallax Wave or Attunement leading to Replenish are the two best ways to let it resolve. Also, don't just scoop up your cards if it goes active. You need eight mana to get out of this, but this deck isn't exactly known for its efficient kill mechanisms. Get Attunement on the table, save Brainstorm for hand destruction, and try to get to the eight mana as quickly as possible while saving a Parallax Wave and a Replenish or some other pair of cards they can't deal with.
After sideboarding, you also have to worry about Rapid Decay , so try to stick with hardcasting if you can. Even more than that, though, look to use Ring of Gix against Stormgald Cabal or any of his clocks, and use Phyrexian Processor to outright win games where you can't go off. If you don't have a Seal of Cleansing or can't force it through, keep in mind they may have a Processor now as well, which aside from a lucky clock is their only real way out. Their deck is based on going for solutions to problems, and if you know how to answer their solutions with your tutors in turn, you should be fine.
White Weenie:
+3 Wrath of God, +1 Marble Diamond
-3 Parallax Tide, -1 Counterspell
Extra Sideboarding: Wrath of God , Wave of Reckoning (don't laugh)
Your enemy game one is Armageddon and Rishadan Port . If you get out of the mana trap, you're home free with a good draw. After boarding, Erase enters the equation on their side, maybe Thran Foundry . The best way to deal with that is to play it slowly, focus on Wrath of God when you can, and go off later on. You take out a Counterspell because you end up staying too active for them. Also, you can and should hold lands if it will allow you to survive an Armageddon . The Seals stay in because of Crusade and Glorious Anthem, if nothing else. The biggest error is probably to expose yourself to enchantment removal or Armageddon . Just be careful when you can.
Stompy:
+3 Wrath of God , +1 Marble Diamond , +1 Seal of Cleansing
-3 Counterspell, -2 Parallax Tide
Extra Sideboarding: Wrath of God , Frantic Search , Seal of Removal , Hibernation. Watch out for overboarding.
You're not getting to their lands in time very often with the modern versions that lack Albino Troll after boarding, so the Tides will come out. Attacks on your lands are your great fear. If they just cast creatures, you should be in time with Wrath of God , Replenish or Parallax Wave . But you don't have Frantic Search , so Tangle Wire and Rishadan Port can and will ruin your day. Their best draws will defeat you, their others will not if you function properly. If they build their deck to win this matchup, they will have the edge on this version. One note is that after boarding you should avoid playing an Island if you don't have to, since that triggers Rushwood Legate (and River Boa ). Don't rush in, use Wrath of God when in doubt, and guard against Tangle Wire when you have the time.
Trinity:
+3 Wrath of God , +1 Marble Diamond , +1 Seal of Cleansing , +1 Cursed Totem
-4 Parallax Tide, -2 Counterspell
Angry Hermit:
+3 Wrath of God , +1 Marble Diamond , +1 Cursed Totem
-2 Parallax Tide, -1 Energy Field , -2 Seal of Cleansing
Extra Sideboarding: Wrath of God , Wave of Reckoning , Frantic Search , More Diamonds.
Your deck is very good at breaking their plan up if it gets mana, and Wrath of God will only make you better. Concentrate on getting your mana, but don't forget to keep enough to do afterwards. Angry Hermit is far easier than Trinity game one, although Boil does make game two more interesting. Still, the red helps you more than it hurts you, except that Angry Hermit can break up Energy Field because of Avalanche Riders while Trinity normally has very few ways (if any) to do it. The difference on Seal of Cleansing is because of Tangle Wire . Both these decks need very disruptive draws to beat your good draws; be patient. It's only when you see that second Tangle Wire or Plow Under that you're in trouble. Card count is also more important than it would seem at first glance. Don't recklessly use Attunement unless you see how you're going to Replenish (or you have stuff to throw away or need the lands really badly), or if you plain old lose any other way. If they're with Angry Hermit, do watch out for multiple Arc Lightnings going in for the kill.
Against Trinity, you want to escape on mana and should be willing to aggressively go after the Diamonds to get extra land plays and the Seals to stop Tangle Wire . But if it looks like you can't get away in time, push the panic button: Energy Field . At this point, it's very likely that they can't get rid of it. Just keep in mind that if you press the button and it doesn't work, you probably lose.
Replenish (Mirror):
+1 Marble Diamond , +1 Seal of Cleansing , +3 Erase
-1 Energy Field, -2 Opalescence , -1 Parallax Wave , -1 Plains
Extra Sideboarding: Erase , Stormgald Machinist, Lilting Refrain
Right now, this is the 'standard board' for Replenish , so expect more or less the same configuration on the other side except for the Diamonds. This is a skill matchup much more than people realize, and it's about threats - not threats on the table, but threatening to do something from your hand. Attunement threatens Replenish . Three mana threatens Parallax Tide . That kind of thing. If you get Parallax Tide to resolve early in game one, you can normally use that to set up, go off and win, so your goal is to do that while stopping your opponent from doing the same. Seal of Cleansing is insurance, since they can't do that much to you while it's on the table aside from a massive Replenish . Marble Diamond is also insurance, since it lets you play Seal of Cleansing while you're locked by Parallax Tide . They can be Sealed, but Seal is overworked. You want to use Attunement to set up Replenish as the second strategy after winning straight off of Parallax Tide, and protect that Replenish . But beyond that, Attunement serves an important purpose just by making Replenish a threat. A poker face is vital, and there are lots of little tricks involved in the interactions of the cards which would be beyond the scope of this article.
After boarding, the match is much more defensive. Anything short of a massive Replenish is probably going to be dealt with, and even an early Parallax Tide is likely to be hit with Erase . The early win is still possible, but less likely. What you want to do is set up your Replenish as quickly as possible while making sure they can't win with theirs, until either you're ready or they give you an opening. If Stormgald Machinist enters the picture, it's very dangerous for the other player but often surprisingly difficult to save mana for. Still, if it activates it's often a game winner. If you do that, you start pulling Enlightened Tutors out of the deck. The mirror used to be of prime importance, and I devoted 6+ slots to winning it and felt very good about it. Nowadays Replenish is back down to Earth, and relying on skill is the most practical option.
+1 Marble Diamond , +1 Seal of Cleansing , +1 Cursed Totem
-1 Plains, -1 Energy Field, -1 Opalescence
Extra Sideboarding: Counterspell , Brainstorm , Arcane Laboratory . Beware Overboarding!
That warning is crucial, and so is the more general warning: Don't overcompensate. Their deck is explosive, it wins on turn three a lot. But that doesn't mean your only goal is survival. Your engine is crucial to your success, or at least enough pressure to wrap things up. If you have to give him his third turn kill, do it, but don't lose access to Attunement with no pressure in order to get a Seal of Cleansing or Parallax Wave or Tide on the table to keep him down for a while. The longer you give him, the more consistent he gets and the more hate he can go through. Once you understand the cardinal rule, which is don't break your deck even if it means giving him three turns to win, the rest is pretty basic. Wave, Tide and Seal of Cleansing all play valuable parts in keeping him from winning. Get one down, Tide if he doesn't have Rector yet, as soon as possible, hopefully turn three, and then get him on a clock or go off completely as soon as possible before it fades away or he gets out. If there's a Monolith out, it's almost always worth using Seal of Cleansing on, even if their deck has no Voltaic Keys. Duress is a problem, so try to have Brainstorm ready if you can when it matters. If you can defend behind Counterspell while you save the mana for Tide or Wave, that's a strong play. After boarding, respect the Cursed Totem but remember they can kill it. If Bargain hits, it's still very bad news. Don't assume that they can't get around your defenses. If they go off at 18, they probably can. If Bargain gets popular again and Arcane Laboratory returns to your sideboard, I'd go for it over the Totem when you have a choice, but it's also not all that amazing.
That should cover the major decks, and should explain what the sideboard cards are all for. Good luck everyone! Finally, a few unfortunate notes. Except for what I put online, I'm sorry to say that I cannot offer much help in MBC or Standard after July 1 because of Worlds. It's really poor that they put Worlds in the middle of a PTQ season, but there's nothing I can do about it. Of course, you can expect a ton of in-depth strategy and decklists right after Worlds.
- Zvi Mowshowitz
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