Making the Vala-Kut: A Titan Deck Primer

Valakut, Scapeshift, and Primeval Titan are the best of friends. Since its inception, the Valakut Scapeshift deck has been a powerful yet fringe strategy, and more recently, Valakut-centric “Titan Shift” decks are at the forefront of the Modern format. As a perpetual MTG grinder, I was particularly excited that Modern was the format of this PPTQ season. Modern is easily one of my favorite formats, and one that I’ve had the most success with in large events. So when this season finally rolled around, I eagerly brushed off my Titan Breach deck and began tuning it for the new Modern metagame.

The monumental rise in popularity of Death’s Shadow variants has led to a significant increase in fair creature-based strategies and blue-based, counter-heavy control decks. Both of these match-ups line up well against the explosive ramping power of Valakut decks, and with a few key sideboard slots dedicated to Death’s Shadow, most of the expected metagame became favorable.

There are a variety of decks that rely on using either Scapeshift or Primeval Titan to search up a Valakut or two with enough Mountains to provide lethal damage, but how these strategies leverage the core engine can vary from deck to deck. With Molten Pinnacles on the mind, I thought it would be a great time to explore the past and present (and maybe future?) of Valakut.

 

Temur Scapeshift

Temur Scapeshift is the progenitor of Valakut decks. With a control shell full of Remands and Cryptic Commands, the original Scapeshift deck focused on controlling your opponent’s game plan while setting up for a combo finish (usually with counterspell back-up). With traditional Scapeshift lists, you would often avoid fetching or searching up early mountains as much as possible in order to set up for a large Scapeshift kill.

The sample list I chose to highlight belongs to my friend Brian Su, who won a World Magic Cub Qualifier with the deck last year. It’s important to note that, with any control deck, the specific answers are tuned to that particular metagame, and metagames always evolve. The main deck Anger of the Gods, Lightning Bolt, and Sudden Shock, as well as the sideboard answers, wouldn’t make the cut if you were sleeving up this deck for a tournament today.

Brian Su – 1st, WMCQ Canada (Edmonton), July 9 2016

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Anger of the Gods
4 Cryptic Command
3 Explore
1 Farseek
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
4 Scapeshift
4 Serum Visions
2 Sudden Shock
4 Prismatic Omen
1 Breeding Pool
3 Flooded Grove
2 Forest
3 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

SIDEBOARD
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Crumble to Dust
2 Dispel
1 Gigadrowse
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
2 Nature’s Claim
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Sudden Shock

Buy this deck from Card Kingdom!

 

Bring to Light Scapeshift

After the printing of Bring to Light in Battle for Zendikar, many Scapeshift traditionalists incorporated it into their decks, splashing a fourth and sometimes fifth color to reap the benefits of having a versatile tutor. The ability to search up unique answers such as Abrupt Decay, Damnation, Izzet Charm, Electrolyze, Anger of the Gods, Supreme Verdict, or Slaughter Games was quite powerful, and the addition of Bring to Light is one of the biggest reasons why we no longer see traditional Temur Scapeshift lists at top tables. However, these lists are weak to incredibly linear aggressive and combo strategies, and are better suited for midrange- and control-heavy metagames, or metagames full of other Scapeshift variants.

Sebastian Wibmer – 9th-16th, Grand Prix Copenhagen, May 28 2017

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Abrupt Decay
4 Bring to Light
3 Cryptic Command
1 Damnation
1 Farseek
4 Fatal Push
1 Izzet Charm
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Pulse of Murasa
3 Remand
2 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
1 Sultai Charm
2 Worldly Counsel
1 Blood Crypt
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cinder Glade
2 Forest
3 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Swamp
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

SIDEBOARD
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Crumble to Dust
2 Dispel
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Negate
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Slaughter Games
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Wurmcoil Engine

Buy this deck from Card Kingdom!

 

Titan Shift

The advent of the more linear R/G Titan Shift lists is one of the other reasons that Temur Scapeshift has fallen by the wayside. Doing away with blue completely, these decks shift away from control and towards completely linear combo, focusing on dealing lethal with either Scapeshift or Primeval Titan as consistently and efficiently as possible. The printing of Hour of Promise gave these decks another tutor effect for their Valakuts that could easily be cast on turn three, providing the deck with the added consistency it needed. Most lists now run streamlined numbers of Primeval Titan, Scapeshift, Farseek, Search for Tomorrow, and Sakura Tribe-Elder, with remaining flex slots devoted to preparing for expected metagames and shoring up bad match-ups.

Logan Hoberty – 1^st, SCG Modern IQ Findlay, September 3 2017

2 Anger of the Gods
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Explore
3 Farseek
2 Hour of Promise
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Primeval Titan
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
2 Summoner’s Pact
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Cinder Glade
3 Forest
6 Mountain
1 Sheltered Thicket
3 Stomping Ground

SIDEBOARD
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Gaea’s Revenge
2 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Nature’s Claim
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Sweltering Suns

Buy this deck from Card Kingdom!

 

Titan Breach

Titan Breach holds a special place in my heart. Slightly less popular than it’s Titan Shift counterpart, this R/G deck sacrifices consistency for explosive power. A turn three Through the Breach into Primeval Titan is an easy eighteen damage, usually enough to end the game in a format where shocklands are prevalent. It also gives you access to niche powerhouses such as Woodfall Primus, and more Summoner’s Pacts help you search up one-of answers like Reclamation Sage and Obstinate Baloth. A one-of Scapeshift provides an out to an unfortunate Slaughter Games or Surgical Extraction.

I was able to take down the first PPTQ of the Modern season piloting a list inspired by Zach Voss’s Grand Prix Vegas 9^th place finish – with Ensnaring Bridges in the board to help shore up Death’s Shadow match-ups and three copies of Anger of the Gods in the main for any pesky creature-based deck. Having Simian Spirit Guide also gives you access to a turn one Chalice of the Void, a sideboard answer that many one-drop heavy decks simply fold to.

Chantelle Campbell (that’s me!) – 1st, PPTQ Rivals of Ixalan, July 15 2017

2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Woodfall Primus
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Farseek
1 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Summoner’s Pact
4 Through the Breach
1 Prismatic Omen
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Cinder Glade
2 Forest
6 Mountain
4 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills

SIDEBOARD
2 Ancient Grudge
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
2 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Pithing Needle
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Sudden Shock

Buy this deck from Card Kingdom!

 

With all of these Valakut options available, any aspiring Scapeshifter can deal damage to their heart’s content. But with its rising popularity, Scapeshift will soon have a target on its back, if it doesn’t already. I expect cards such as Leyline of Sanctity and Blood Moon — as well as land destruction options like Fulminator Mage, Ghost Quarter, and Crumble to Dust — to see a rise in popularity. Will that be enough to quell the Valakut resurgence? We’ll have to wait and see!