This past weekend was Lobstercon, an annual event that takes place in Boston. While it may sound like a weekend full of eating crustaceans, it’s actually the biggest Magic the Gathering Old School event in all of New England. The event has been held since 2018, and for the past six years, it has been the culminating event for all die-hard Old School 93/94 and Premodern players.
The weekend features two main events, a Premodern event that takes place on Friday and an Old School event that takes place on Saturday. This year, with a field of 186 players, Brian Selden was able to take first place in the Premodern event with his build of Landstill, a deck that some Legacy players may recognize as well.
For those of you that started playing Magic after the early 2000s, the name Brian Selden may not ring a bell. Brian Selden is a former professional Magic player who was in the Pro Tour scene between 1997 and 2002 and started off his career as a professional by becoming the World Champion in 1998. He has three top finishes, including a second-place finish at Pro Tour Washington, D.C. in 1999.
Considering that Brian was such a notable player in the early days of Magic, it’s no wonder that he was able to take home the Premodern Trophy this year at Lobstercon. After all, Premodern is comprised of the cards that Brian used during his time in the Pro Tour circuit. It is always terrific to see some of Magic’s early legends returning to take home some trophies.
If you want to take a look at the standings from the Premodern Event, you can find them here.
What is Landstill?
Landstill is a control deck that is centered around the card Standstill. With Standstill on the battlefield, your opponent becomes disincentivized from casting spells, allowing you to stack up on resources and gain the advantage through means other than casting spells.
Once Standstill is on the battlefield, there are two main ways you can use to win the game. The first way is with lands, as implied in the deck’s name. There are several lands in Premodern that can turn into creatures using an activated ability, and for Brian’s build, he decided on a playset of Mishra’s Factory. This allowed Brian to get creatures onto the battlefield without casting any spells, forcing his opponents to respond to his growing army of Assembly-Workers.
The second way that the deck gets around casting spells is with Cycling. There are several cards in the Onslaught block that all have a triggered ability attached to their cycling ability. Landstill uses the card Decree of Justice, which allows you to hide behind your Standstill until you have enough mana to create an army of soldiers to begin pressuring your opponent’s life total.
Controlling the Boardstate
The rest of the deck is filled with exactly what you would think a control deck would consist of. The first ingredient, of course, is counterspells. Landstill features eight total counterspells, which consist of a mix of Mana Leak, Forbid, and Counterspell.
A common line for this deck is to get a Standstill on the battlefield, wait for the opponent to cast a spell, draw three cards with the spell still on the stack, and then counter the opponent’s spell. This is usually followed by another Standstill, which puts your opponent in the exact same situation they were already in, except you now have more cards.
Landstill also features six additional counterspells in the sideboard, comprised of Annul and Blue Elemental Blast. The Annuls are essential against decks with powerful artifact or enchantment strategies, such as Stiflenought and Oath (which were both in the top four of the Premodern event). The Blue Elemental Blasts are important against aggressive red decks, such as Goblins and Burn.
If the opponent manages to get a creature onto the battlefield, it usually doesn’t stay there long against Landstill. If a singular creature is threatening you, it can easily be taken care of with a Swords to Plowshares or Pacifism. If your opponent manages to amass an army, simply wipe the board clean with Wrath of God.
When playing Landstill, it is essential that you have control over the battlefield before you cast Standstill. The worst scenario when playing Landstill is when you have to cast a spell before your opponent does, allowing them to draw three cards. When this occurs, you have given your opponent a clean four for zero, and there is a good chance that the end is in sight for you.
Therefore, it is very important that you use your removal spells effectively. If you can line up the game so that you remove your opponent’s creatures and immediately play a Standstill, you will most likely be in a good place to win the game. Since there are a good amount of manlands in Premodern, you will want to make sure that you are also safe from opposing Mishra’s Factories by using Dust Bowl to remove your opponent’s lands.
Final Thoughts
I have a good amount of experience against Landstill, as my wife plays it in both Legacy and Premodern. It is a very scary deck to play against, especially if you slip up on lands or if you’re not aggressive enough. I can easily see how this deck took down a field of 186 players, especially in the hands of one of the all-time greats.
I was surprised to see three copies of Phyrexian Furnace in the mainboard of his deck. I am assuming that this is mainly to protect against Reanimator and possibly the Rock, but looking at the top 16 decks at the event, it doesn’t look like there’s a single graveyard strategy. The deck clearly worked (scoreboard), but I do wonder if three copies of the Furnace were necessary. If you know of another reason for the Furnace, please let me know in the comments!
When I looked at the top four decks of the weekend, there was one thing I noticed that made me smile. Third place in the event was taken by Oath Parfait, which has a price tag of around $3,000. This is usually what people picture when they think about getting into older formats, a complicated deck with a high entry fee.
However, let’s compare the third-place deck to the first-place deck. The price tag of Brian Selden’s Landstill? $200. And of that price, most of it is comprised of the four Flooded Strands and the single copy of Humility. You could easily build a cheaper version of this deck for only $20. I love the fact that the deck that got first place was $2800 cheaper than the third-place deck.
And if you’re still not sure if you can’t afford Premodern, next time, I will be looking at the fourth-place deck of this tournament. The name of the deck? Fluctuator. The price of the deck? $50. The most expensive card in the deck is a single copy of Lotus Petal in the sideboard ($10). The price difference between the third-place deck and the fourth-place deck in a 186-person tournament was $2950. Trust me; you can afford to play Premodern.
You can also find Brian's decklist here.
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