So apparently people really like to read these tournament reports and are interested in the insights they provide, the spicy techs, the mulligan decisions and gameplay patterns. Huge if true!
So maybe I, Rae the Bard (they/any), Jack of all Gates, can enlighten you now on everyone’s favorite deck: The Gates of Caw aka Baldur’s Birds.
And even if you’re not playing the best deck of all time, you might still get something from it, especially when you’re playing Caw Gates’ hotter twin sibling Naya Gates.
Some frequently asked questions first:
- How does the deck work?
No one knows, it’s probably magic! - No, jokes aside, how does the deck work?
I mean, it was more of a pun than a joke, but ok! The deck tries to survive the early game, where it is vulnerable because of eleven of its lands entering tapped. It does so by having original Counterspells and spot removal while being able to prevent combat damage and favorably block with Prismatic Strands
. Meanwhile you want to hit your land drops almost every turn until around turn 6 to 9. Basilisk Gate
will turn small creatures into threats, while their lifelink gives you enough HP to survive a potential backswing. In the late game it’s possible to create an insane amount of card advantage by hardcasting Lorien Revealed or relying on the Squadron Hawk
plus Brainstorm
combo! - Do you think of the deck more as a control, a midrange or a tempo deck?
The deck has different ways to adjust its gameplan according to the needs of the specific matchup. It’s possible to switch between the aforementioned archetypes depending on draws, life totals and possible threats from the opponent. I started playing magic as a child around the release of 8th Edition and never have I seen a deck that was more elegantly crafted and versatile in its simplicity and execution. The adjustability is one of the main reasons I love the deck so dearly and have been playing it almost nonstop since 28.06.2025 without getting bored. - What’s your favorite ABBA song?
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) – by far! - Can you recommend a guide on the deck if one would like to dive deeper into the basics?
Yes, glad you asked, there is a guide by Edo_01 and MVanni on Metafy, which is free! - Ok, can we get to the tournament report now?
Can you chill out for one second? I am getting there! - Hey!! I’m asking the questions, not you!!
That wasn’t a question though technically :P So you have violated our infernal contract and you are banished into hell once more, foul demon! I’ll summon thee for the next tournament report, don’t worry! Until then, you will burn for your sins! - Infernal screaming then silence
…
MAINDECK SPICE
I want to talk about one important thing that I changed from the stock list, as illustrated by this classic Sheoldred-Meme:
I cut the Modern Age from my list for a few important reasons, but I realize that it’s quite hard to put into words. Normally this card is the glue that holds the deck together: it provides pseudo-card advantage by letting you discard things that have value in the graveyard: Sacred Cats or Prismatic Strands
, while also making sure you’ll hit your landdrops consistently and providing a creature in the end.
It has, in my opinion, always been the weakest link in the deck. It’s very slow and therefore is sideboarded out in most games.
Against fast decks the card is too slow and against slower decks I’d rather have more total removal in my deck. Instead of trying to find the good cards for 2 mana, I just draw the good cards in its place. Plus, I want to cast my Sacred Cat
and Prismatic Strands
if possible or even discard them into a Refurbished Familiar
.
I instead replaced the Sagas with 1 Palace Sentinel and 3 Ride’s End! Monarch is just a Modern Age where you don’t have to discard, if you think about it. ;) Having more removal at instant speed also helps with protecting the monarch.
Shoutouts to Keira, who is an awesome Gates player and whose Esper deck list was quite inspiring for me to get to my current list now.
SIDEBOARD
This sideboard feels a bit unconventional as well, notably are there no Dust to Dusts in there. I feel a bit overconfident regarding Grixis affinity, because I managed to win against it a few times and probably underestimate it.
The sideboard is a clean 12 specialised Counterspells and 3 Standard Bearers, which are honorary Counterspells in my eyes!
And now for the games! Gates players, lock in! (No, not talking to you Selesnya gates)
Match 1 vs Mono Green Elves 1:0
If I remember correctly, I won the dice roll and start with a healthy 7. Gate, go. My opponent starting with basic forest and manaproducing Elf, go.
My muscle memory kicks in, I have played and lost this matchup around 100 times by now, mostly thanks to Selen, it’s just so overwhelming and it feels like no sideboard choice from me will ever help make this matchup winnable for me. But you know what they say: “As long as the Squadron Hawk
is in the air, the game is not lost yet!” I will fight until my last Brainstorm
!
I play a Sacred Cat
and an early Basilisk Gate
.
My opponent casts an early Timberwatch, which gets removed by me. Then they resolve a Winding Way
and cast the first Wellwisher
.
That card is not in every Elves list, but it changes the gameplay drastically for me. Suddenly my concern is the timer clock. I could remove the Wellwisher
, but then I’m lacking removal for the real threats: Timberwatch Elf
or Nyxborn Hydra
. But if I don’t remove it this game will go on forever, as I have lifegain as well. We still have 40 minutes, but I start to get nervous and start to play faster than normally necessary. If I counter and remove all threats, I could theoretically win by them drawing from an empty library, if I let the Winding Ways and Lead the Stampedes resolve.
A few turns later, I draw my Palace Sentinels
. Should I deploy Monarch? Even If I can protect the emblem, I might just draw too many cards to execute my great plan of winning against an empty library. Tough decision, that I postpone a few turns. The battlefield is crowded with elves by now. A Priest of Titania
solving all Mana problems. My opponent finds the second, third and fourth Wellwisher
. I find my second, third and fourth Basilisk Gate
. 30 min still on the clock.
My lifegain is barely shielding me from the two Ents and one Hydra hitting me every turn. Opponents lifegain skyrockets every turn. 20 min on the clock, I have a Guardian of the Guildpact
that can block, I finally deploy the monarch. Maybe I can remove 2-3 Wellwishers, but I need to draw cards? My opponents lifetotal peaks at 191 as I start to remove the Wellwishers via Journey to Nowhere
and Ride’s End. Strands and Hawks are deployed to protect the monarch!
In the end there is no more lifegain on the green side of the fight. A 45/45 Hydra enchantment gets murdered by a Thraben Charm
. This is like a fever dream, oh my!!
The clock is running out, my library now dwindling from 10 to 9 to 8 cards. The Guardian of the Guildpact
is carrying me over the finish line – a 58/59 sized boy hitting a few turns in a row to eliminate the enormous heap that was my opponent’s life total! Did that just really happen or did I dream it? What a crazy game, this was really one for the history books!
Match 2 vs Mono White Heroic 2:0
My opponent was one of the bystanders in my first game and therefore knew what deck I’m playing, but I don’t know theirs. I keep an ok 7 and they start with a Remote Farm
. This narrows it down to Heroic. I think I’m quite favored in the matchup, but it’s definitely not free for me at all.
I only played a few times vs my friend Lui during casual game nights, so I know a few key gameplay patterns. It’s a bit scary that they have the ability to give their creatures protection, but also quite uncomfortable that protection from white negatively interacts with their own stuff, so I’ll try to make them stumble over their own protection ideally. Ride’s End might be hard to deploy if there’s one of the Vigilance enchantments. Journey to Nowhere
is especially dangerous, if they protect their creatures and I can’t target them, I might worst case have to target my own creature, because it is not a “may” effect. Other than that, my Prismatic Strands
, Counterspells, Thraben Charms (as enchantment removal) and creature removal all are pretty potent.
Both games go pretty similar: We trade a few blows with lifelink, I dismantle their creature and draw a lot more cards. My opponent has really unlucky draws in topdeck mode and concedes each game after a few frustrating turns.
Sideboarding from my part was just swapping 2 Outlaw Medics and 1 Palace Sentinel for 3 Standard Bearers. I’m not sure how many spells are affected by it, but I thought it was worth a try and I mostly take out the Outlaw Medics against decks that don’t play removal.
If you’ve made it this far in the tournament report, that’s fantastic! Thank you for reading! You deserve a little break, get yourself a nice cold water and just relax for a bit, you’ve earned it. As an added bonus, I’ll share with you one of my favorite little recipes, as a treat for you. It’s for delicious bread rolls without yeast; believe me they are cool! You need 160g oat flakes (Haferflocken) and 2 tablespoons Psyllium husks (Flohsamenschalen), 2 teaspoons of salt, 180g of mixed seeds and/or chopped nuts (I prefer chia, sesame, flaxseed, sunflower seeds, but any will do I think) 400ml water. Mix it all together, make sure the Psyllium is evenly mixed, then let it rest for 30 min. Make your hands super wet and shape it like little golfballs. Then 200°C for 30-40 min in the oven. Eat it, enjoy! Take care of yourself and have a great day!
Match 3 vs Radness 2:0
After some nice banter with my third opponent, we swiftly start the game. It is the last game before the lunch break and I always find this to be the one with least concentration. Huge shoutout to the person who established our habit of doing lunch breaks, it’s an absolute game changer for the whole tournament going experience!
If I recall, I won the dice roll again and begin. A basic mountain hitting the playmat across the table suggests my third monocolored matchup for the day! And one I’ve had some practice with as well! All the red matchups are favored for Caw Gates, but not as heavily as one might think, I’d probably say it’s more like 55/45. It turns out, I’m facing Radness. This one is tricky because they have the potential to dish out 20+ damage in one turn in the mid-late game, so you should never feel safe before you hit that 40 life (depending on boardstate). Also, the lava darts are particularly great against Sacred Cat
, as it answers both sides of it!
I am happy concerning my choices to not play Modern Age, so I’m a bit faster and the Ride’s End can get rid of an annoying Sneaky Snacker
in the early game if needed!
My opponent early discards 2 Lava Darts, which is pretty nice for me, as I don’t have to worry about them being hardcast anymore. I quickly get down to 10 and later 8 life with a Kessig Flamebreather
sticking to the board. I manage to hit once with a pumped Squadron Hawk
while digging for lifelinkers! The ones I deploy get answered swiftly by lightning bolts. A Palace Sentinel gives me an easy to defend monarchy in the midgame.
In a crucial moment I contest a Lava Dart
with a Prismatic Strands
. It resolves and in the end step I tap out to produce a Treasure Token from Heap Gate
. My opponent sees the opportunity to finish me with their remaining Lava Darts from their graveyard without being counterspelled. We let it resolve and then I point out that the effect from Prismatic Strands
is still active. I feel really bad, but they don’t even ask, if they could take it back. It seems like a big misplay, but actually it made no difference because I had Counterspell
and another Prismatic Strands
in hand and wouldn’t have tapped out if Strands haven’t been active. Then I untap, pump a Hawk for 14 and finish them in one swing.
For the second game I decide on the gameplan of going for tempo. I board in 3 Dispels and 5 Blue/Hydroblasts, I always take out the 3 Thraben Charms against red because their first mode becomes unreliable. I know I could hit Snackers with the graveyard exile, but it somehow never works in practice. Guardian is an easy board out as well. I think I also remove the Ride’s Ends so I can focus on more of a lifegain strategy than answering their every card. I could also focus on countering the draw spells with my BEBs, it’s quite versatile. I’m not completely sure anymore what the last card was that I took out, maybe a Journey or maybe I decided to just board in 2 Dispels last second. The Sideboard is not optimized in that way yet.
My opponent decides on keeping a hand with only one land in it and starts with a Faithless Looting
. The “red Brainstorm” as I like to call it. They discard Lava Darts again and miss their second landdrop for one turn. This one turn advantage helps me to develop my board with a Shattered Acolyte
with Dispel
backup. I draw my Basilisk Gates early and swing a few times while successfully protecting my creature. While on 31 life I misplay really badly, but it’s not punished. I cast a Journey to Nowhere
on their Snacker only to instantly realize they could flashback Lava Dart
on their own creature, forcing me to exile my own Shattered Acolyte
. Thankfully they don’t see they line, and let Journey resolve. The game is quickly over and I try to convince myself that this misplay was only made because of low blood sugar. Maybe I would’ve won the game nonetheless, because I had a Sacred Cat
in hand, but it certainly would’ve taken a few more turns. There’s no way to know for certain and I try to learn from this for the next time. “Always double check the boardstate when casting Journey to Nowhere
”
Lunch Break vs Pizza Vegetariana from Pizzeria Tito 1:0
The lunch break was a pretty easy one for me. I didn’t know the matchup too well, but I knew they rely on cheap, but really good quality. The cheese was awesome and the vegetables had a really good board presence. That being said I was quick to destroy their boardstate in a few bites and they stood no chance. They didn’t even get a single bite on me, so I’d consider this another skill victory!
During the break I was talking to this awesome Person F. about become more competitive vis-à-vis mindstate during tournaments if the beginning is going well. We were both currently at a 3-0 during the day and it was really nice talking to them about this and a lot of other different topics. They were playing a very cool Izzet Skred
/Terror list, which is a deck I love to see! Such an interesting spin on the control/tempo axis! Also, I’m a sucker for emblems to be frank!
Honestly what a perfect day so far, getting to spend time with my friends, and getting to play some funky cardboard as well. I love this community so much and having so many of them get together on a regular basis is one of the great joys of my daily life. The sun was shining, I was having great conversations and eating Pizza. What more could I want in this moment?
Match 4 vs Izzet Skred 2:1
We were both grinning as we sat across from each other at the game table after having had such a nice conversation 20 min earlier! They what they were up against and so did I (sort of).
The first game I mulliganed to 5 but kept a hand with Guardian of the Guildpact
in it. I tried to wait for the right moment to deploy it, when they had only one or no mana open. The opportunity presented itself turn 4 perfectly, so I instantly jumped on it and cast the sturdy friend. I didn’t have a Counterspell
backup and I knew about Fanged Flames
, but I decided it was worth the risk. I had other angles, if this one got exiled.
My opponent started digging for answers: Brainstorm
plus Lorien Revealed’s Islandcycling and Ponders en masse. But they do not find the Fanged Flames
before getting hit with a regular Guardian once and a pumped Guardian three times for lethal.
Sideboarding is difficult as I didn’t see the Fanged Flames
and I honestly do not remember if it’s a Sorcery or Instant. I overthink it, trying to deduce it being a Sorcery from previous timings I’ve seen it being cast. I put in 3 Dispel
, 2 Envelop
, 2 Glorious Gale
and take out 3 Thraben, 3 Ride’s End and 1 Lorien Revealed. The last one being a weird decision about not wanting to hardcast it and have it countered and wanting to take out one land as I’m already playing 1 more than some people do in Caw Gates. Seeing Lorien as a “tapped” basic Island, I decided to cut it, but probably it should’ve been the Shattered Acolyte
.
The second game is pretty intense, they mulligan to 5 and deploy an early Tolarian Terror
. I try to answer it but my Journeys get hit with Annul
. In 4 precise hits I die after stalling for 1 turn with a Prismatic Strands
.
My heart is pounding like crazy before the third game, my head it swirling and I decide that Fanged Flames
surely had to be an Instant because of MH3-FIRE-design, so I swap out my Envelops for 2 Standard Bearers. In hindsight that was stupid as well, but I was really nervous and overthought everything. Third game, I started with a cute little Sacred Cat
gaining me 1 life with an early pounce, which is a Time Walk if all you have is a Terror (I think Buddha said that). The game quickly escalates, I get some good Squadron Hawk
and Brainstorm
synergies in and even though I’m still incredibly nervous, stoked, excited, happy, anxious at the same time, my mind slowly relaxes as I climb up to 35 life while having a full grip.
You really can’t imagine how incredibly happy I was when winning this match. My opponent was the nicest person ever and I would have been happy for them as well, but being 4-0 in a Lega day is more than I ever imagined. The game was also really interesting as we both had answers for a lot of stuff and there were many though decisions in there that are too complex to put on paper.
My friends calm me down before the next round. Thank you for your kind words, they really mean the world to me.
Match 5 vs. Rakdos Madness 2:0
The last match starts like a dream. My opponent is playing Rakdos Madness, a matchup that the gods of RNG had decided to give me so many times, it had become almost automatic! It’s favored for me, though my friend Eric has managed to beat me with it on multiple occasions!
I manage to do the lifegain dance in game 1 and 2, never falling below 15 life during the match. My opponent starts game 2 with Faithless Looting
discarding 2 Sneaky Snackers, but I have 3 BEBs in hand and manage to stall the game by countering all the early card draw spells.
There is not much more to be said regarding the finale, as my deck did what it does best.
Aftermath
After the last game, I step outside to breath in the fresh air. I can’t describe how incredibly happy and proud I am about this day. There was quite a bit of luck involved and there is a part of myself trying to tell me that I don’t deserve this, but I try to ignore it. Why not feel happy? It doesn’t hurt anyone! I allow myself to feel the sun on my face and be proud of myself.
I look across the crowd outside and see the many wonderful people who made this Lega day happen. Either by showing up and being awesome, cool and joyful, or by tirelessly organizing for months. Our wonderful judges Ash and Tim couldn’t make it this day, so Aaron and Aaron volunteered to help us out! They did such a great job.
I really want to thank everyone who contributed to this Lega and this community in general. I hope you realize how happy you’ve made so many people with this project! Including me!
Oh and most importantly: Fanged Flames
is a Sorcery after all!