Wizards decided to ban Field of the Dead, effectively ending Golos, Tireless Pilgrim’s reign over Standard. While I wanted Nissa, Who Shakes the World to also get struck by the banhammer, I guess they thought this was enough to shake up the format. Honestly, it probably was, as the previous metagame did feel like it was held hostage by both Simic/Bant Ramp and Bant Golos. Now that one of the pillars of the format is gone, it should be much easier to attack these Oko, Thief of Crown strategies that everyone’s so up in arms against. Today I’m going to be exploring one of those potential strategies which I believe will have a good showing for the Players Tour Qualifier Weekend.
Selesnya Adventures!
Now, it’s not like Selesnya Adventures hasn’t been around before. The first MPL Eldraine Split took place the week after Throne of Eldraine released, and fan favorite Reid Duke unveiled the deck to the world with his top four finish in the event.
Creatures (26)
- 1 Emmara, Soul of the Accord
- 4 Venerated Loxodon
- 2 Trostani Discordant
- 2 Flaxen Intruder
- 4 Lovestruck Beast
- 4 Faerie Guidemother
- 4 Giant Killer
- 4 Edgewall Innkeeper
- 1 Shepherd of the Flock
Lands (21)
Spells (13)
If memory serves, Reid chose to play this deck given its advantages against other green strategies. Without opposing access to mass removal, Selesnya Adventures would grow and grow and grow its battlefield, making it very difficult for any battlefield-presence strategy to keep up. Given that Simic Ramp was gaining a lot of attention in the first couple of events, Reid considered this a well-positioned strategy.
Now, everyone knows what happened after that. Our very own Bryan Gottlieb won a Fandom Legends event with Bant Golos, and the whole world was watching. The Field of the Dead strategy took over the metagame, leaving Selesnya Adventures out in the cold. Some still tried to play it at this last Mythic Championship with Golos decks in mind, but still fell victim to the strategy repeatedly. It was just not a good matchup no matter what you did.
Creatures (29)
- 4 Venerated Loxodon
- 2 Flaxen Intruder
- 4 Lovestruck Beast
- 4 Faerie Guidemother
- 4 Questing Beast
- 4 Giant Killer
- 4 Edgewall Innkeeper
- 3 Shepherd of the Flock
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (21)
Spells (9)
That’s Selesnya Adventures’s weakness, though. The deck just can’t keep up with sweepers from a strategy that can also play to the battlefield. Now, don’t get me wrong, the deck struggles with sweepers in any form, but it at least has access to alternative ways to win when an opponent is not also playing their own threats.
That’s why this was the first deck that got my attention after this Monday’s announcement about Field of the Dead. Bant Golos was the perfect deck to beat up on Selesnya Adventures, but now that it’s gone, Selesnya Adventures might just be the best deck to take down Oko.
Here’s my current list.
Creatures (25)
- 4 Venerated Loxodon
- 2 Flaxen Intruder
- 4 Lovestruck Beast
- 4 Faerie Guidemother
- 4 Giant Killer
- 4 Edgewall Innkeeper
- 3 Shepherd of the Flock
Lands (21)
Spells (14)
Sideboard
The first thing you might notice about the list is that I’ve reverted back to a similar build that Reid played in the first week of Throne of Eldraine Standard. Questing Beast and Gideon Blackblade made sense in the maindeck while Bant Golos was around, but that’s no longer the case. These cards are not as necessary in the current metagame, and only really needed in matchups like Esper Stax and Jeskai Fires.
Initially I assumed that Emmara, Soul of the Accord would be perfect for this deck, especially since I went back to all the convoke cards, but it underperformed game after game after game. Shepherd of the Flock, however, was not underperforming. In fact, it was just amazing! My list started with two Emmara and one Shepherd, but within ten matches I was all in on the Shepherd!
The reason for this is that returning permanents to your hand has unlimited applications in this deck. On the surface you can use the Shepherd to protect your best card, Edgewall Innkeeper, but slowly I learned of all the interesting lines this card offered up. Slowly I started sequencing in a way that allowed me to recast Venerated Loxodon when I needed more power on the battlefield, a Conclave Tribunal that originally targeted a Hydroid Krasis, and even itself. That’s right: when you have two copies of Shepherd of the Flock, you can “loop” them to draw cards with Edgewall Innkeeper. This is especially potent when you’re stalled out against a Nissa, Who Shakes the World.
This is the card to be playing right now until players start sweeping battlefields again. Obviously there are cards out there like Massacre Girl and Deafening Clarion that will cause problems for the deck, but they won’t start seeing prominent play until someone cracks the code for them against Oko decks. Until then we can keep preying on Simic and Bant Ramp with our go-wide strategy.
I’m under the impression that if March of the Multitudes is not the card you want to be playing four of in your maindeck, Selesnya Adventures is not the best deck to choose. Like, the Adventure package is great and all, but it’s not the most powerful thing to be doing. It’s good because it draws you into a massively big March of the Multitudes, which is something worth doing in the present.
These two cards are similar to Emmara in that I overvalued them when I first started playing the deck. After testing with them I quickly realized that, while they’re good, flooding on them was real. I was totally fine with going down to two Conclave Tribunals, as I didn’t really find interaction necessary, but it took a lot to not find room for a second Unbreakable Formation. It’s just that the card is not good until it is. When you draw too many of them alongside copies of Conclave Tribunal, you find yourself with little action to get onto the battlefield.
Mulligan Decisions
Mulliganing with this deck is interesting. It’s vital to have good starts, so it’s important to mulligan aggressively. It’s also important to keep high-variance hands that rely on hitting a specific land on a Once Upon a Time. Pretty much, if there’s a card that would allow my hand to function if I hit off Once Upon a Time, I’m keeping it. If my hand doesn’t have Edgewall Innkeeper, Venerated Loxodon, or Once Upon a Time to find them, I’m more than likely mulliganing. This deck is very powerful and great at recouping lost cardstock from mulligans, so keep going back into your deck until you find a powerful start.
“Sideboard Guide”
Simic Ramp
This matchup is good, but that doesn’t mean you just cast your spells and win. Simic Ramp’s advantage comes with curving out with planeswalkers, and this is going to beat you if you’re not playing to the battlefield just like they are. Luckily the deck’s power does have a cap in a matchup like this. They will continue to play to the battlefield, but there’s not much more they can do than use their two planeswalkers and cast giant Hydroid Krasises. Outside of that, they’re just drawing redundant copies of Oko and Nissa and more mana acceleration. Of course it’s good, but sometimes isn’t enough to beat our endgame of multiple March of the Multitudes.
Edgewall Innkeeper is a part of your best draws, but honestly that’s going to be true for almost every matchup. The reason why it’s so good here is that your job in the matchup is to keep playing permanents as you’re trying to build towards your convoke cards. I mean, it’s not rocket science. Drawing extra cards will allow for more permanents, and thus bigger March of the Multitudes. Sometimes these games are very easy thanks to this wonderful innkeeper.
Out:
[No changes.]
In:
[No changes.]
That’s right, there’s no reason to change a thing in this matchup. You already have everything you want in your maindeck, so stand pat. This doesn’t mean the dynamics in the games don’t change, though. They will now have more ways to interact with you, so it’s important to play around Disdainful Stroke when casting March of the Multitudes. I often will just main phase it, even if I don’t have a Venerated Loxodon, just so I don’t get blown out by a counterspell on their turn.
It’s also important to protect your Edgewall Innkeepers when you can. They will often now have upwards of eight creatures that can fight your Innkeeper, so holding up a Shepherd of the Flock when you can is nice.
Bant Ramp
This matchup is very similar to Simic Ramp with one minor difference: Deputy of Detention. While I still don’t know if it’s worth sideboarding anything to interact with the card, eventually pilots of this deck will catch on and start playing Time Wipe, so be on the lookout for that. Other than that, we can bring in some copies of Veil of Summer if we want to, but I’ve yet to do so myself.
Esper Stax
Game 1 can be difficult as you have so many convoke cards, but things get way easier after sideboard. I believe the best way to play Game 1 is to just go all in and try to make them have Kaya’s Wrath. Sure sometimes you can slow down when you have active Edgewall Innkeepers, but without them the game’s not going to get better for you all of a sudden. Attack the battlefield with as many little creatures as possible!
Out:
In:
Now that’s clean living right there. Take out all ten convoke cards to bring in a variety of good cards in a matchup like this. I assumed this matchup would be bad, but it really hasn’t been. In fact, I’ve won every time I’ve played against this deck making me believe it to just be a bad deck. I mean, what is the Esper Control deck beating if it’s not GreenAndWhiteCreatures.dec?
Gruul
Gruul is another matchup that’s pretty straightforward, and one where we’re advantaged. It’s just tough for them to keep up with Venerated Loxodons, and they struggle to beat either half of Giant Killer.
Out:
In:
I can’t be certain of this, but so far I’ve found March of the Multitudes to clump up in my hand. It’s just more difficult to amass a giant battlefield against a deck that can Embercleave at any moment. It’s also difficult to find time to march when you’re spending turns casting removal spells, which you have “more” of thanks to using the other half of Giant Killer more in this matchup than any other.
Maybe you want a copy of Devout Decree, but I’ve been pretty happy with all of the other cards.
Oh, that’s it? Yeah, that’s it. I think there are other decks out there, but everyone’s playing Oko decks. Seriously, I play against Simic or Bant Ramp all the time. I know I said earlier that maybe banning Field of the Dead was enough, but I didn’t think everyone was going to be playing Nissa decks. I said on Twitter this past weekend that Nissa, Who Shakes the World should also be banned, and I’m pretty sure I’ll end up on the right side of history on this one. But I guess we will see this weekend when results come in.
Seriously, though, I think this sideboard has the tools to beat the generic strategies that people will show up with. I added two Glass Caskets for the eventual mirrors, and suggest adding more if you think there’s a high chance this deck will gain popularity this weekend. I’m sorry I don’t have more matchups for you, but I honestly don’t know if they even exist yet. I’ll keep playing the deck and continue working on the plans, I promise!