Hey there, and welcome back to The Zenith!
There have been too many matches in Magic that I’ve won or lost based on my opening hands. It’s not just about the plan that the hand appears to have, but also how you sequence your opening plays.
I wanted to share how I typically think about opening hands with Naya Depths and, from there, how I sequence my opening turns.
First up, here’s my current Naya Depths decklist:
The opening 7 on the play.
Honestly, this is a pretty great hand. We have access to all our colors, two threats, and two pieces of interaction in Swords and Wasteland. Reclaimer is currently our only real way to interact with most combo decks in the format, but you’re not going to see many Game 1 hands that match up well against combo in general.
So, pretty simple right? Forest, Reclaimer, pass…right? Well, it’s not that simple. Let’s get into some of the different lines we have for T1.
1) Lead with the Forest
2) Lead with Windswept Heath into Savannah
3) Lead with Windswepth Heath into Taiga
Note: I believe we can rule out Wasteland go and Plains go as potential options in the blind.
Before you jump ahead, I challenge YOU to come up with your own line and either comment on this article or via a social media platform quoting this article! I’ll have 5 MTGO codes (120 playpoints) to give away next month for the best responses!
Lead with the Forest
Thoughts from the Depths Discord
My thoughts
At first, I had a few reasons not to lead on Forest. Doing so turns off the ability to cast Swords and use Wasteland on the following turn without drawing Mox Diamond specifically. It also signals to a Mono-Red player that their Blood Moon play is now potentially much less impactful. By leading on Windswept Heath into a green dual land, you might bait a Mono-R player into aggressively pitching Fury to remove Reclaimer, then follow up with a Turn 1 Blood Moon. This is a niche line, but it’s come up often enough against me that I think it’s worth noting.
Another thing to keep in mind – if you plan on untapping, playing Heath, and passing – is respecting potential removal from your opponent. Holding up Lush Portico is nice, but remember that your opponent can respond to the fetchland activation with Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, or insert another commonly played removal spell before you get any value out of Reclaimer.
A benefit of leading on Forest is that if Reclaimer is removed, you’re then building out our mana in a way that can’t be disrupted by Wasteland / Moon effects. Against a deck like Delver, having both basics in your opening without having to pay a life for each is a nice small win.
If I do lead with Forest and Reclaimer, I think my next turn is likely Plains, pass, holding up two mana for Reclaimer activation or Swords as needed.
Lead with Windswept Heath into Savannah
Thoughts from the Depths Discord
My Thoughts
I believe this is my favourite line. T1 Savannah means you have access to Wasteland + Swords the following turn if needed and also puts a land in the graveyard on T1.
If your opponent is agressive on a Moon line, you’ve got a huge advantage too.
It does come at a cost though. The fetch represents not just your mana, but card selection in Lush Portico and pressure or fodder in Dryad Arbor. This hand does have a chance of flooding with two or more lands off the top so access to Lush it quite appealing.
Lead with Windswepth Heath into Taiga
My Thoughts
I found it really interesting that no one went for the line of Windswept Heath into Taiga to have access to all colours. Baum made a great point about the need for early red mana (or the lack thereof). Minsc is the only card in the maindeck that warrants access to red mana, yet you don’t need it early on (and also don’t want to put it in harm’s way).
In most matches with Naya Depths, I tend to play a GW-based strategy in Game 1, somewhat strategically avoiding the need to reveal my red splash. This can come in handy against decks where Blast effects out of the board are effective, or where Minsc might come as a surprise in Games 2 or 3.
At first I thought there was a high amount of value for getting all colours online, but after going through each line I do believe that’s one of the least important lines.
Conclusions:
A quick article, but it’s nice to be back writing and updating the GSZ! I look to update the Naya Depths primer over the coming weeks and get it primed (excuse the pun) for those looking to battle in 2025.
A huge thank you to my current Patrons for supporting my content and the running of the ‘Zenith! I very much appreciate you.
