Deck of the Day – Tin Fists by Jan van der Vegt (Day 1 GP Prague on Jan 11th 2014)

Tin Fists
Jan van der Vegt
Day One at GP Prague Modern on Jan. 11th 2014

Lands (21)

• 1 Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 3 City of Brass
• 1 Copperline Gorge
• 1 Creeping Tar Pit
• 4 Gemstone Mine
• 1 Hallowed Fountain
• 1 Island
• 4 Misty Rainforest
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
• 1 Steam Vents
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Watery Grave

Creatures (15)

• 4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
• 4 Griselbrand
• 3 Simian Spirit Guide
• 4 Sylvan Caryatid

Spells (24)

• 4 Faithless Looting
• 4 Fist of Suns
• 4 Goryo’s Vengeance
• 4 Izzet Charm
• 2 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Serum Visions
• 1 Thoughtseize
• 1 Through the Breach

For those of you who don’t know Jan and his signature bell he is a very active Twitch streamer from The Netherlands who goes by the handle DzyL.  And for those of us who do know we have already been watching him test his Tin Fists brew on MTGO.  He was able to pilot the deck to an 8-0 start before dropping his last match of the day but still remains at 8-1 going into Day 2 giving himself a great chance to make a run for the top 8.

This deck can have some ridiculously explosive starts, some of which were seen on camera in his feature matches.  It is basically looking to cheat a Griselbrand or Emrakul into play which can happen at times as early as turn two.  The deck uses Goryo’s Vengeance as it’s reanimation tool to rise these legendary creatures back from the grave for a turn, and because it is an instant you are able to respond to Emrakul‘s graveyard trigger before he gets shuffled back into the libray.  Using Faithless Looting and the draw/discard mode of Izzet Charm you are able to dig through your deck then stack the graveyard with targets.  But the final and perhaps most ingenious aspect of the deck is where is gets it’s name from, Fist of Suns.  This simple little artifact allows you to cast any spell for one mana of each color instead of it’s actual mana cost.  Jan then carefully crafted his manabase with a specific mix of duals to compliment City of Brass and Gemstone Mine so you could somewhat ‘easily’ cast an Emrakul on turn five, and since it is cast you get to take advantage of his extra turn trigger which will most often draw an instant concession .

So while the tournament is still now far from over it does look like Jan has put together a true contender with this spicy brew.  I know I will be glued to the coverage in hopes to see another turn two Griselbrand or Emrakul take it down.  Good luck DzyL, we will all be rooting for you.  DING !!!

Eric J Seltzer
@ejseltzer on Twitter
ejseltzer@hotmail.com