UGR Destructive Force

As many of you know, the release of M11 has brought with it a slew of new deck archetypes. Probably the most influential card in the set has been Primeval Titan. This 6 mana 6/6 has brought with it the resurgence of the Valakut Combo deck, and has also aided in the creation of a (semi) new archetype based around the card Destructive Force (a.k.a. Wildfire 2.0). This archetype uses Primeval Titan and the abundance of mana ramp available in Standard to accelerate up to and past 7 mana, at which point casting Destructive Force will destroy most, if not all, of your opponents lands and leave you in control of the game and able to restabilize (once again, thanks to the Titan's ability to survive the sweeping effect of D-Force and give you an additional 2 land drops each turn). Early versions of this deck have performed very well, with a list appearing in the Top 8 of a Japanese PTQ as well as taking down a tournament or two on Magic-Leage.com. UGR has always been one of my favorite color combinations in Magic, and with a local PTQ coming this weekend, I've decided to sleeve up Destructive Force and see if I can "destroy" my way onto the Pro Tour.

For reference, here is the list I will be playing:



(note that there may be a few changes made to this list between now and the day of the PTQ. The SB will likely be modified to answer my local metagame).

Deck Breakdown:

Creatures:
3 Primeval Titan: Primeval Titan is an important piece of this deck. As mentioned earlier, Titan not only helps you get to 7+ mana in order to cast Destructive Force, but also aids in restabilizing after casting Force. Other Destructive Force decks have played anywhere from 2 to 4 copies of this Titan, but from my testing I feel that 3 copies is just enough to ensure you draw one but dont end up clogging your opening hand with too many expensive spells.
1 Frost Titan: Frost Titan has gotten alot of hate from the Magic community since it was spoiled, often being called the weakest member of the Titan cycle. However, Titan plays a key role in this deck. After casting Destructive Force, it is likely that your opponent will have only 1-2 lands left on the battlefield. This is where Frost Titan shines, as he can keep your opponent further "screwed" on mana which buys you time to completely take over the game.

Spells:
3 Destructive Force: The card the deck is named after. Casting this spell is your primary win condition. Similar to Primeval Titan, 3 copies is plenty, as you usually only have to cast Force once to win the game, and you dont want to have multiple copies filling up your opening hand.
4 Lightning Bolt: The best 1 mana spell in Standard at the moment. Bolt takes care of early, aggressive creatures and can also finish off an opponent who is low on life.
4 Mana Leak: Mana Leak is BACK! Being a "control" deck of sorts, Mana Leak is a great way to slow down your opponent's early threats, as well as counter any spells that may hinder your chances of resolving Destructive Force. Leak also shines after casting Destructive Force because it is unlikely that an opponent will be able to pay the additional 3 mana for their spells after having their lands destroyed.
4 Rampant Growth, 3 Explore, 3 Cultivate: Mana ramp is the key to this deck winning. This 10 card ramp package will ensure you get the mana advantage over your opponent both before and after Destructive Force.
2 Into the Roil: Into the Roil is a great way to get rid of any surviving creatures (or even Planeswalkers) after you cast Destructive Force. If an opponent has an opposing Titan or other large creature that wasn't killed by Force, simply bouncing it is usually as good as killing it because it is unlikely your opponent will have the mana left over to replay the creature. Into the Roil also deals with Planeswalkers, which is never a bad thing. Oh, and it can draw you a card, which is nice.
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor: Jace is the best Planeswalker in the game. The goal of the Destructive Force deck is to keep an advantage over your opponent at all times. Jace does this both before and after Force. Before Force, Jace is used to dig for your win conditions (Force and Titan). After Force, Jace is used to Fateseal your opponent to keep them from drawing mana and to bounce any remaining threats (similar to Into the Roil).
3 Garruk Wildspeaker: What better to have in a Mana Ramp deck than a Planeswalker who can accelerate you by 2 mana each turn. After Force, Garruk can be used to either aid in playing your mana ramp spells to restabilize, or by creating Beast tokens to beat down your opponent's (hopefully) empty field.
2 Mind Spring: Once again, this deck is designed to continually gain advantage over your opponent. With 13+ mana ramp spells, Mind Spring can be used to draw lots of cards. Mind Spring also helps refill your hand if you start to run out of cards or you arent drawing the spells you need to finish off your opponent.

Lands:
The land package is fairly simple. You have 6 fetch lands to ensure you hit every color you need, as well as 4 Raging Ravines which both fix your mana and function as an attacker (or blocker) if necessary. The deck also plays 4 utility lands (2 Halimar Depths, 2 Khalni Garden). Depths often fetched up by Primeval Titan so you can order the top 3 cards of your library after shuffling. Khalni Garden is for the aggro matchups, providing a blocker to help protect your life total while you ramp up for the win.

Sideboard:
3 Negate: Negate is primarily for the UW Control matchup where the majority of their win conditions are non-creature spells. Negate also helps you deal with opposing counters so you can safely resolve Titan and Destructive Force.
3 Obstinate Baloth: Obstinate Baloth is for the Aggro matchup as well as any deck still playing discard (most notably Blightning in Jund). Baloth is a solid blocker that can come down on turn 3 and also gain some life back that you may have lost from an early barrage of Goblin Guides and Ball Lightnings.
2 Earthquake: Earthquake is also for the Aggro matchup. Decks like Mythic and Naya often play alot of small X/1 mana ramp creatures that Earthquake can dispose of before they cause any problems. Earthquake can also function as a burn spell to finish off your opponent if necessary.
2 Mind Control: After casting Destructive Force, there is a chance that your opponent may still have a creature on the board. Instead of bouncing this creature with Jace or Into the Roil, why not just steal it and use it ourselves?
2 Pelakka Wurm: Pelakka Wurm is also for the Aggro matchup (you might notice a trend here, fast Aggro decks are Destructive Force's worst matchup). Pelakka Wurm not only survives Destructive Force, but also gains you a massive amount of life and if killed will also draw you a card.
2 Lavaball Trap: With the increasing amount of Mana ramp in Standard, Lavaball Trap is a great way to fight the mirror match as well as decks like Valakut and Turboland. Playing Trap in response to a Harrow to destroy an opponent's 2 Valakuts and wipe the board of any pesky Plant Tokens is absolutely amazing in the Valakut matchup, as well as the Turboland matchup.
1 Destructive Force: In some matchups (usually the Mirror) you need to draw Destructive Force as soon as possible. Adding one more Force to your deck increases your chances of drawing it before your opponent does.

So there you go, UGR Destructive Force is a very viable archetype and hopefully it will do well for me at the PTQ this weekend. I'll be sure to post a tournament report sometime Saturday night or Sunday afternoon. Let me know what you think of the deck in the comments or on my Twitter account (@dcampa93)!

Thanks for Reading!