Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2025 15:44:22 -0600
From: Neil <neil@oldschoolsorcery.com>
To: Old School Sorcery <admin@oldschoolsorcery.com>
Beefy Boys at YetiCon 4
By: Neil Troy (@bnrrx7 or neil@oldschoolsorcery.com)
This deck started life after Pez won LobsterCon. After hearing his interviews and statements I
was reminded of Brian Vegso winning War of the Roses this year (an excellent event, BTW!). Brian
won War of the Roses with 4/4's. He played a strategy of just have bigger threats and force your
opponent to answer them. Steve Hines also won this year's Seattle event by what I would consider a
value-fest deck, creating incremental card advantage with spells and creatures. I felt like I needed to
build something that leaned into what I was seeing: play threats that force unfavorable trades with your
opponent and push the gas pedal.
The deck started as WBG to see if I can make something without blue power or red spells, i.e.
what was the best I could do in a "bigger than you" Abzan pile. The deck featured some pet cards that I
love like Armageddon, Spirit Link, Erhnam, Sylvan, etc. These are all cards I always want to be better
than they end up being but I start by trying at least. I took this list to a couple of Beast meet-ups and the
deck felt decent for casual meet-ups but the flaws were apparent very quickly. Sylvan was a liability, I
was paying life like crazy to dig to stuff and seeing the second one is always painful. Spirit Link always
gets the wins on Serendib and Juzams but my logic was I wanted to gain life to shut the door on red
decks. When it happened it was good, but Spirit Linking and Atog isn't a winning strategy.
Armageddon also isn't strong enough when the strategy isn't to also deal with their artifact mana, or
locking them out with Land Equilibrium.
Now to the elephant in the room, Erhnam. I love Erhnam, I always have. It was one of the first
decks I ran as a kid in the 90's...but this is not an Erhnam deck. Erhnam is a fine win condition in a
deck that can handle everything being played by your opponent. Erhnam is fine as top end in a green
strategy. Erhnam is great with Berserk. This is not an Erhnam deck. This deck wants threats that have
zero downside, two for one your opponent, or have evasion. Erhnam can two for one your opponent but
it also can give forestwalk to their only threat allowing it to chip in and even out race you. It also has
no evasion and factories can block it easily, and do. Even if you don't agree with the Erhnam logic the
deck felt like it had 6-8 "could do better" slots with green being in. Looking deeper at green I could
have gone lower power with Elves or Pixies but those are one for one trades and didn't feel right.
I decided to drop green and replace it with red, WBR, or Mardu pile. Red has some sticky
threats in Sedge Troll, Two-Headed Giant, Atog, Shivan, and Orgg. I wanted to avoid Bolt in the main,
following Hines' lead in, yes it is a good card but it doesn't two for one, it is great rate card. The Atogs
felt like a reasonable choice given the artifact density and wanting a way to do something on two.
When I started playtesting it felt better than Abzan, but Atog felt weak. Attacking for 1 isn't what I'm
after and the artifacts need to stay in play to cast further threats. Two-Headed and Sedge Troll put in
good work and an early Orgg is a beast to recon with. The Spirit Link was the last hold out, but also
didn't do what I expected in a red match-up so this felt it still needed some tweaking.
I playtested with Joel Demir over webcam the weekend before to further refine it, especially the
sideboard. I had Order of Leitbur thinking that would be good in black match-ups and I hated it. It
never felt like what I was trying to do. Instead the Lightning Bolts made an appearance in the board to
wipe up thinks like Hippies, Knights, and Green things if they were annoying in a match-up.
I wanted to make sure to comment on the manabase. I only ran 1 Strip even though per the rules
I could have had 2. I was concerned about colored mana with this deck but also didn't want to City of
Brass myself constantly. I also felt I had to acknowledge Blood Moon so a basic Swamp and Plains
made sense. The Hammerheim was for the format since Mountain Yeti should be seeing play and per
my Erhnam comment letting unblockable go unchecked isn't a winning strategy. The deck ended with
24 lands (4 of them Factories), 2x Mana Vaults, 1x Lotus, and all 5x Moxen. That's 32 mana sources,
and after playing it all weekend it didn't feel bad. Yes I drew a lot of lands, but the threats are so hard to
deal with that I never thought it felt too much. Any game they answered all my threats we were in top
decking wars and drawing equally. In a 1x Strip format I'd drop Hammerheim and add another threat.
a 4x Strip I'd drop Hammerheim for a Strip (2 total).
Below is a subpar tournament report. I wish I had a better memory for these things but this deck the
creatures are all interchangeable and nothing really stands out. The deck either wins or loses on its
game plan. In nearly every game the goal is to put a 4/4 in play on turn 2 and I mulliganed to
accomplish this many times. This is NOT a deck where you keep a hand with interaction and no threat
to just hope to draw it later. The parts I thought were interesting I tried to comment on below.
Round 1: Marco G on what I thought was "The Deck" and ended up being WUB Big Bois!
This was Marco's first event! A U40 and PUP aficionado, I had the pleasure of playing him
round 1 in the secluded area with more elbow room. Game 1 I mulligan a hand with no acceleration
into one that can drop a Two-Headed Giant or Sedge Troll on turn 2 with: Mox, Vault, two lands,
Sedge, and 2HG. However, I screw up instantly by being scared of Marco's open two blue mana, and
play the cowardly Sedge on T2...it doesn't get countered. My next turn I follow-up with a 2HG and it
feels like I am on a good path. Then I see Marco isn't playing some blue control, he is playing blue big
stuff! What are the odds that my round 1 opponent is playing consistently bigger things than me!
Needless to say Mahamoti hits the table and a Dakkon and I'm suddenly playing small crappy
creatures. I scoop with a board state that has Marco taking it down and I need to wash away the stain of
my not playing 2HG on T2 like I should have. Games 2 is mostly uneventful. Marco's beefy boys are
missing and I chunk away with 4 power in 6 turns crunching a Sage under the boot of an early 2HG.
Game 3 I'm worried about his bigger threats but they don't materialize. His early Swords are met with
just more threats that need answers and I crunch to victory. 2-1 (1-0)
Round 2 Doug Eubanks on UGw Arabian Good Stuff
Doug and I know each other from Sorcery so unfortunate to get matched early but part of that
will happen at any tournament when you know a bunch of people. Game 1 I mulligan away a hand that
has no acceleration to something that can drop a 4 power on T1 with Lotus, Mox, Sol Ring, Land, 4-
power threat. He of course Swords it but I follow-up with another 4 power threat and he can't answer it
and I crunch through for Game 1. Game 2 I finally see it isn't just Arabian Good Stuff he's also rocking
Spirit Link! Doug is able to get an Erhnam down and Spirit Link it and I can't race that. He does more
damage to himself with Sylvan than I ever do but I never was able to land a threat. Game 3 Doug lands
an early Dib but has to Swords one of my 4 power threats. My hand for this match-up had more
answers and Doug's hand is light on them. Clearing the Dib and dropping a City in a Bottle and Doug
is mostly locked out of the game. 2-1 (2-0)
Round 3 Jared Letz on Mono-U Shops
Jared has been doing OS since 2016 but is saddled with the burden of being in the middle of the
country, so doesn't get to many events other than LobsterCon and YetiCon. Game 1 I keep an opener
with LoA, Balance, Mox, Land, 3 boring cards; it is an auto keep as it can either out draw or equilibrate
the board state. Jared is able to get an early Su-Chi off of a Workshop but I draw two extra cards of
LoA, find another Mox, then after he plays another Su-Chi with no Factory in sight I drop the Moxen
and Balance for 8 damage to Jared and follow-up with beefy air support. Game 2 I keep a hand
dropping an early 4 power flyer and Jared has no answer, by turn 6 its over. 2-0 (3-0). Jared hangs
around in our luxury area and we talk about alters (he has some beautiful Mark Poole Islands from
about a decade ago), if he's reading this pick up the Posca and just keep doodling!
Round 4 Peter Neimeier on ???? (feature match)
Peter is a good friend of the Beasts and a great game designer having made the Delver Quest
game for the last [redacted] event. Game 1 I don't see much from Peter other than a Brass Man on T1.
He is playing WUB, but Brass Man? What is he doing? I play an early Sedge Troll that hits once before
being Swords and then I see it...The Abyss and Maze. Peter is on a spicy one (he will end up winning
the top spice honors) of Brass Man, Onulet, Order of Leitbur, with 4x Maze and The Abyss. This is like
my nightmare match-up. I had jokingly said "who's going to be running The Abyss at Yeticon?" people
want to play dudes! The Abyss is a problem in game 1. I have a Disenchant in the main but Peter is
running many Abyss. The Mazes are actually the biggest problem though because I can't even poke in
for damage by sacrificing creatures The Abyss. After drawing a Fireball the plan is clear I can only win
with Fireball. When the math is right I Fireball for 7 and then DT for Fireball #2 and Fireball for 8 to
get game 1.
I'm feeling good but know that this will be tough. I board in Disenchant for Abyss, say no to
Divine Offering (am I really going to Divine Offering a Brass Man?), bring in a REB or two, and bring
in Lightning Bolts since burn feels the easiest way out of this. Peter double mulls and I single mulligan.
The game doesn't feel bad until I'm dead. Hmm...Something went wrong. Game 3 we grind it out and
go to time, but Peter isn't going to lose an orb flip battle and I take the loss. This match-up felt bad, but
not worse than maybe a 40/60. He wasn't on big counters so I should be able to get through. (lack of
commentary because the match is recorded) 1-2 (3-1)
Round 5 Justin Iskra on Atog
Justin and I exchange pleasantries and get down to business. Game 1 he has an early Atog but I
have an early Sedge Troll. This match-up feels to me to just press the gas. I dump my hand easily and
Vises don't matter. He sac's his Relic Barrier and another artifact to pump the Atog but only gets me
down to 14 before Atog is on blocking duty. Derelor and 2HG are just too big for Atog. Game 2 Justin
T1 Vise and I think I can get under it but then he plays another Vise and I'm taking too much damage. I
have to make sub-optimal plays to get under the Vises and end up at 6 which is fine for his two bolts.
This game was another example of what I felt the number one theme of my weekend was, which was
mulligan to hands that do something, not eventually do something on turn 4 but that do something on
turn 2. Game 3 he gets Atogs but no artifact support and is stuck on Badlands mana. I land a 4 power
beater and a Sedge Troll and just beat down. This is about the only match-up I actually drew Orgg and
it was fun to see how Justin kept sacrificing artifacts to stop Orgg from attacking 2-1 (4-1)
Round 6 Peter Simpson on Shops
This is just a battle of 4 power creatures. In game 1 we are racing past each other thinking each
other is behind. I happened to get there first. Game 2 was mostly the opposite, he was just faster than
me, not much to say. Game 3 had an interesting point which I will highlight as one of those "how do I
lose this game?" situations. Peter kept attacking offering trades of his Su-Chi for my Serra Angel.
Given that Peter is on white this trade doesn't make sense for me. Although I can make the trade and
hopefully replace it with another 4 power creature, I'm losing on mana efficiency and evasion. The
story here though is about Balance. Peter was only getting out of this game 3 by wiping away my
Serras. The Sedge Troll represented an infinite blocker and so taking the trades would only have
opened the door for Balance to bring him back in. Identifying this is critical in this kind of deck "how
am I going to lose?" 2-1 (5-1)
I finished 4th overall in a field of 60ish players. I think I played well and drew well, after some early
stumbles and I see why Fireball is played everywhere. It just win games. I didn't miss Lightning Bolt,
nor Swords to Plowshares, and rarely Disenchant. In the end I feel this experiment for me at least
showed there are deck strategies that really don't want to play a reactive game. This deck wants to race
out something big, again, again, and again. It'll crunch over many strategies. STP is anti-thesis to the
strategy with the life gain and what kind of creatures is this deck afraid of? From the write-up you'll
see I never went against any black discard strategy nor red aggro decks so maybe those decks would
offer some different insight.
So did all the beefy boys feel good? Yes. Absolutely. I'd want more! Another Derelor seems fine, probably
over Guardian Beast which just died instantly, Chaos Orb was in play to be fair. To the question of Shivan,
it is probably good late game as it can represent a single attack for 8+. In a Blood Moon heavy meta I would
definitely put it in the main. I still do not think adding Bolt into the maindeck is correct and would
leave it out.
Props:
-Jared for putting together a great weekend
-Jeremy for picking me up and always have the right idea of a "Beast lounge" when we can find the
space for it
-Vegso and Joel Demir for helping me tune this
-The Gathering: Andy, Jared #4, Watte, Doug Eubanks, Yeti, Graham, Jared Kohler, Ripper, Mason, Luis
thanks for the hangs
Slops:
-The Abyss...it's so oppressive...it makes me want to play it
-Mind Twist...it's so good...I hate playing it
-Wheel of Fortune, absolutely unplayable in this deck, I hated it all weekend
Next up is Fishliver Oil Cup in Genoa Italy. It should be a blast!