Breaking (Down) Primeval Titan

In the current standard with overpowered lands Primeval Titan has become king.  The question remains what are the most common ways of utilizing this card and which one of those methods is most successful.  I would like to focus on the different packages of cards that combo with Primeval Titan and attempt to determine which packages you should include in your next Titan Ramp deck.

The first packages to consider are the accompanying ramp cards.  There are essentially three different directions to take in ramping to your Primeval and beyond.  First is the sac land package that is found most often in Valakut decks.  This package includes Khalni heart Expeditions, Harrows, Explore, and Cultivates.  The Harrows and Heart Expeditions are unique to this deck because landfall of mountains in particular is important to get the full value out of your Valakuts and Avengers.  The pros to this package are massive landfall and the ability to choose which lands you are pulling from you deck.  The biggest drawback to this package is that it doesn't ramp as hard as some of the others we will be looking at.  The second ramp package is the one utilized mostly by Mono Green Eldrazi; it includes 4 Joraga Treespeaker, 4 Growth Spasm, 4 Explore, 4 Overgrown Battlement, and some number of Cultivate. This package can be incredibly explosive if Joraga is able to stick or you can get a growth spasm resolved as this often means you get your Titan a turn before your opponent, but it does not have the landfall strength of the Valakut.  The third ramp package is both the oldest and the newest.  Lotus Cobra combined with fetchlands, Oracle of Mul Daya, and Explore can lead to the most explosive plays of the game, but the entire package is dependent on keeping a Cobra in play...many times easier said than done.

 

The biggest question in determining what ramp package is right for the deck you are trying to build is answering these two questions, "How am I going to win the game and what can my opponent do to stop that from happening?"  Clearly, the Valakut package is just for the Valakut deck and has limited application elsewhere and therefore if you are trying to win with Valakut those answers are easy.  I want to win by burning my opponent out with Valakut, with the backup being Avenger and my opponent can only stop me if he can get rid of all my Valakuts and still deal with a resolved Avenger.  This is fairly straightforward and therefore it is the other two ramp packages that I want to focus on.  

The biggest vulnerabilities of these other two ramp strategies are the creatures that give them their explosiveness; namely Lotus Cobra and Joraga Treespeaker.  I believe this vulnerability is too large for your opponents and the metagame in general to not recognize and exploit which is why I am a large advocate of the following ramp package.

4 Joraga Treespeaker

4 Overgrown Battlement

4 Growth Spasm

4 Explore

2 Cultivate  

This ramp package is very similar to the Mono Green Eldrazi package with a particular emphasis on beefing up its hardiness with Overgrown Battlements and its speed with Growth Spasm. I believe this particular package performs very well against a vast majority of the meta and when we take into account the finishers I am going to recommend it becomes even clearer why this package is superior to some of our other options. 

The ramp in a Primeval Titan deck is the kickstarter it gets the engine (Primeval Titan) going as fast as possible.  Once the engine gets going it needs a direction and that is where the finisher package comes into play.  The most popular finishers today are in no particular order; Eldrazi Big 3, Avenger of Zendikar, Rampaging Baloths,Valakut, Frost Titan, Inferno Titan, and recently Genesis Wave.  Clearly all of these are big spells that do some pretty broken stuff when played correctly and with enough speed.  I would like to suggest a new package of finishers that takes pieces of each group and meshes them together to form a much more flexible package.  

3 Frost Titan

3 Rite of Replication

1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth

I will share with you the process I went through to arrive at this particular finishing group.  I  began by evaluating all of the finishers relative level of power in the current meta.  (I only did this based on hard casting them...) 1. Emrakul 2. Ulamog 3. Kozilek 4. Frost Titan 5. Genesis Wave 6. Avenger/Valakut 7. Rampaging Baloths  The reason Frost Titan is ranked so high is that it has the ability shut down many of the cards in its same category.  I next evaluated what each finishers strong and weak match-ups were.  I won't bore you with the details, but essentially (and for good reason) each of these cards should win you the game, provided that your opponent isn't able to cast something as good on their turn.  Meaning that controlling the mirror is incredibly important.  Enter Rite of Replication!  This card gives you the flexibility in the mirror to lock your opponent down and respond to a lot of their threats in a relatively cheap manner (achieving 9 mana in a ramp deck is not a significant barrier). It can double up a legendary to clear an Eldrazi for just 4 mana, it can target a Primeval and empty your library of land on that turn, it can target a Frost Titan and effectively lock down your opponenets mana, it can simply match their best creature in a game where you got outramped...the flexibility this card gives to the deck is amazing and truly is the bet finisher I have been able to find.

I want to address a few sideboard holes that Primeval Titan decks often find themselves in before wrapping up with the list I currently use to break Primeval Titan and its crazy ramp abilities. The toughest match-up is often counters and control against your early game ramp or the Primeval Titan itself.  Summoning Trap remains your best friend here but this list includes counter magic of its own to bring in off the board for a game 2 surprise. The other choice that might seem odd is that I always board in my Obstinate Baloth against control.  Why?  One more creature I can cast that gets countered and thus is one more opportunity to insta win off a trap into Emrakul.  Without further ado here is what I believe is the ultimate Primeval Titan list available today.

4 Primeval Titan
3 Frost Titan
3 Overgrown Battlement
4 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

2 Rite of Replication
4 Explore
4 Growth Spasm
2 Mana Leak
4 Summoning Trap

4 Misty Rainforest
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Eldrazi Temple
2 Eye of Ugin
4 Khalni Garden
2 Halimar Depths
2 Island
4 Forest

SB:
4 Obstinate Baloth
3 Spell Pierce
2 Nature's Claim
4 Flashfreeze
2 Mindbreak Trap