Matchup Analysis - 4/5 Color Creativity

Key Cards: Blacksmith’s Skill, Spell Pierce, Gingerbrute, Urza’s Saga

Problem Cards: Prismari Command, Fire//Ice, Force of Vigor/Nature’s Claim, Wrenn & Six, Boseiju,

***If a white splash, T3feri and Leyline Binding as well.

Objectives/Key Strategic Points:

• Establish which version you are battling. There are 2 main configurations:
  • Grixis + Green.
  • White splash for Leyline Binding and Teferi, Time Raveler.
  • This should be fairly easy to identify. If you see a land able to make white mana (triome/shockland), you know that Binding and T3f are realistic cards.
• There are definitely games where you can just jam and kill them unbothered by silly cards like lightning bolt and spell pierce, but that is simply not what will happen in most games, especially against a strong Creativity pilot
• What you need to do is plot out a way to kill them in (preferably) one large attack. Oftentimes, their manabase will deal 5+ damage to them, so a couple early chip shots can make a hammer connecting immediately lethal.
• Your biggest advantage in the matchup is how efficient your spells are.
  • Bolt and Pierce are exceptions, but Fire//Ice, Prismari Command, Boseiju, and Persist for Archon are all much less mana-efficient than your Aid/Hammer backed up by Blacksmith’s Skill and Spell Pierce.
  • Urza’s Saga really allows you to leverage your efficiencies as well, as it enables you to create meaningful threats without having to commit threats to the board. Additionally, they can’t simply let you beat them up with constructs. This means that they have to use their mana to address the constructs, which in turn opens up windows for you to connect with a hammer.
    • Arguably the most powerful angle of Saga is the ability to snag a Gingerbrute, which is one of your best ways to punch through their defenses.
• Keep W6 OFF the board. Creativity often struggles to hit their land drops 4+ if they are missing W6, so you should prioritize keeping it from resolving.
  • This means that if you have the option to slow your development and take 1 turn off in order to pierce a Wrenn and Six, you should almost always do so, especially when you are on the draw.
• Don’t fear trading with Dwarf tokens. Yes, losing your creature to a dwarf or 2, but forcing the OP to do so means that they have fewer targets to target with Creativity, limiting its impact.
• Beating a Creativity:
  • Pierce/Skill
    • Pierce is often a hard counter to Creativity, especially since it costs 4+ mana.
    • Skill targeting your OP’s Creativity target will counter it, since the permanent gains indestructible, and Creativity requires that the permanent be destroyed by it. If your OP knows this interaction, it means that they will often have to Creativity for X=2+, which further opens them up to Pierce. These 2 interaction spells work remarkably well at putting Creativity in a bind.
    • Build a board state, or keep 0-1 creatures in anticipation. The best way to survive the Archon(s) entering the battlefield is to either have almost no creatures in play, or have 3-4 creatures in play. Having no creatures in play negates the impact of the Archon’s edict, whereas having 4+ creatures means that you will still have a board after the Archons ETB.
  • Creativity Resolving
    • Once Creativity resolves, you have between 0 and 2 total turns to win the game, so you should stop trying to play around anything that you cannot trivially beat. If the OP gets to attack with an Archon, your odds of winning plummet because well… Archon is a very absurd Magic Card.
    • You should be building your gameplan with the assumption that Creativity will potentially resolve, and come up with a contingency plan with that in mind.
      • As you approach turns 3-5, start considering “What if they resolve a Creativity for 1? Creativity for 2? What lines should I take to beat each of those?” The reality is that… sometimes there is nothing you can do, and you will lose. The matchup is super close, and is largely determined by the pilots’ skill and knowledge, who is on the play, and who draws better.
    • 1-2 Hammers + Spear, Kaldra, or Gingerbrute. Your OP can have 2 Archons, but if you saga for a Cookie Monster and smack ‘em for 21+ damage unblockably, those 8 mana monsters don’t really matter.

SB Strategy and highlights: Blacksmith’s Skill, Spell Pierce, Pithing Needle, Instant Speed Removal, and Teferi are all reasonable.

• The matchup remains largely the same post-board, but both sides will have more copies of meaningful interaction now, and fewer dead cards.
• Blacksmith’s Skill is both a protection spell and potential counterspell for Creativity.
• Spell Pierce continues to be great here. As mentioned above, Hammer’s strength vs Creativity is its efficiency, and Pierce trading for a 3+ mana spell really showcases that.
• Pithing Needle names both W6 as well as Boseiju, and Teferi in the 5C version.
• Instant Removal Spells are strong in very small amounts. Not only can it counter Creativity like Skill, but it’s ability to clear an Archon or other problematic creature can often win the game.
• Alternate Creativity Threats are something you should be aware of, but not do a lot to play around. Archon is powerful, but if your OP boards in and manages to hit a Serra’s Emissary naming “Creature”, you are basically stone dead unless you can Path/T3f/March her.
• Naturalize Effects are something you should be much more aware of post-board. They are likely to have some combination of the following:
  • Additional copies of Boseiju
  • Nature’s Claim
  • Force of Vigor
  • Tear Asunder
• The good news is that Skill beats most of these, and you should be playing with most of these cards in mind anyway since they are fairly common cards across the format.
• While Giver seems strong, I want to note that generally, their best interaction with you attacks your Sagas, Hammers, or Aids. This means that Giver isn’t interacting any more effectively than a Skill or Pierce, and this is why I often cut them post-board.

TL;DR: Pressure your OP with some chip shots/Saga, leverage your mana advantage, and pick your spot to kill them, likely with a Cookie or other Multi-Hammered creature. Skill and Pierce are gigantic beatings.