GOAT Magic: Cars vs. Caw
Mardu Vehicles had a historically dominant performance at Pro Tour Aether Revolt. So dominant, in fact, that it brought back memories of Caw Blade, a deck whose Pro Tour Paris performance set the standard for great Pro Tour performances during the mythic era of Magic. Which GOAT Pro Tour deck is better, and how do these two decks match up against each other? Richard and I battle out a five-game (Pro Tour style) match to figure it out! Will having access to a four-mana wrath in Day of Judgment be too much for Richard's Mardu Vehicles to handle? Will having a huge, flying Heart of Kiran be enough to keep Seth's Jace, the Mind Sculptor in check? Let's see!
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Conclusion
While it seems like the raw power of Jace, the Mind Sculptor and friends is (just) enough to push Caw Blade past Mardu Vehicles, the match was a lot closer than I expected, going the full five games. For me, the biggest takeaway is that Vehicles are great against control, and not just today's watered-down Standard control decks, but even one of the greatest Standard control decks of the mythic era. Having access to four-mana wraths isn't simply game over—in fact, I resolved three Day of Judgments one game and still lost! Perhaps the biggest advantage for Caw Blade was in the sideboard. Baneslayer Angel is pretty absurd, not just locking down Heart of Kiran in the air but gaining back much of the life that is lost over the early game in short order. So while I think the advantage rests slightly with Caw Blade, I think the matchup between Cars and Caw is really close to a toss-up, and if we played another few matches, I expect that the Mardu Vehicles deck would actually win a reasonable amount of the time.
Anyway, that's all for today. Did you enjoy watching historical matchups? Would you like to see more GOAT Magic? Let us know in the comments! As always, you can reach me on Twitter @SaffronOlive or at SaffronOlive@MTGGoldfish.com.
