Premodern May 2024 Challenge - Survival Rock vs Dream Halls - 5/18/24

5/18/2024 - Phil3579 plays Magic the Gathering Online premodern format challenge. Go to www.premodernseries.org for information about joining the Magic Online Society's premodern events.

[@MillionUltraBalls]

I don't know a lot about Premodern history. Did people have Squee in their Survival decks before Cyberpunker or did all green decks become survival decks after Cyberpunker perfected Madness? I remember playing premodern tournaments prior to 2018 where Rock and Elves didn't run Survival.

[@PremodernPhil]

Squee has always been a staple in Survival decks, but what sets Survival Madness apart is that it's the only variant I know that runs multiples, aside from the occasional rogue Zombie Infestation / Survival deck. I actually started playing Premodern about a year ago, so I don't have first-hand knowledge about the early days of the format, but most current Rock decks do not run Survival while most current Elf decks do, though some actually run Food Chain instead. Anyway, on the topic of all green decks being Survival decks, that isn't really the case, though it is true that the best green cards are generally enchantments. There's Survival itself, but also Oath of Druids, Sylvan Library, and Pernicious Deed. All of these can serve as the strategic foundation of a deck, influencing all other downstream card choices during the deckbuilding process.