For the last two weeks, I have spent most of my time barricaded in my room playing Standard. This format is proving to be fun, diverse, and very skill testing for deckbuilders/designers. I can’t say that I broke the format, but I was able to figure it out. This week I’m going to go over the decks you should be playing, the ones you should stay away from, and the ones that shouldn’t have left my head.

The Good

Decks

Junk Reanimator

This is the deck you should play if you are going to attend Grand Prix Verona, Grand Prix Rio de Janeiro, or SCG Standard Open: Indianapolis this weekend.

Reanimator

Brad Nelson

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (24)

Lands (23)

Spells (13)

Sideboard

Junk Reanimator has not been on the radar for some time now. It has shown up sporadically at events but has never put up dominate numbers. The reason this was the case for so long was that most of the decks in format were in the "midrange" spectrum. A lot of these decks had spells that were decent against Reanimator, but they pushed it over the edge with multiple Rest in Peace in the sideboard.

Standard is very polarized right now. There is an abundance of aggressive decks in the format. They are diverse in card choices but identical in function. All of them run an extremely high number of creatures and a very low number of removal spells. This is a perfect place to be when running mana dorks.

There is a single "control" deck in the format in the form of Esper. This deck exploits the fact that almost every other deck in the format tries to win with damage by winning with Nephalia Drownyard. This allows Esper to run more defensive spells to help consistently attrition out their opponents. Esper does have some tough matchups, but nothing makes an Esper player cringe more than Cavern of Souls naming Ooze and Angel. This allows Reanimator to constantly destroy lands for the entire game. Esper cannot function on a low land count and needs Nephalia Drownyards to actually win the game. Well, Beast works out pretty well too. HOOF!

Jund and UWR are the most powerful midrange decks in the format because of their ability to prey on aggressive strategies; these decks have been dominant for weeks now. But both of these decks have a very difficult time dealing with the card advantage that Reanimator decks can create. They lean on the fact that they can one for one their opponents enough times to play trump spells like Garruk, Primal Hunter or Sphinx’s Revelation in the late game to take over. These cards are very weak when facing down Angel of Serenity. Both archetypes can easily deck themselves before they can get through a never-ending wall of Thragtusks and Angels.

The biggest reason why Junk Reanimator will be good this weekend is because the hate just isn’t there. Humanimator is the only other deck running Unburial Rites now, and most decks have alternative ways to deal with this graveyard strategy. The most popular way is to simply be faster than it. The reason I stopped playing Humanimator is because it wasn’t consistent enough to deal with all the Burning-Tree Emissary decks. Consistency in a combo deck is important, and Humanimator cannot consistently combo off by turn 5.

Graveyard hate isn’t even a death sentence for Junk Reanimator since the deck has the ability hard cast its spells. Avacyn’s Pilgrim and Arbor Elf allow the deck to accelerate into Thragtusk and Angel of Serenity, which means an opponent with Rest in Peace will still have to deal with these all-star spells.

This deck will not stay on top of the hill for long, but this weekend it will be king.

Esper Control

Brian Braun-Duin

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (9)

Lands (27)

Spells (24)

Sideboard

Like I said earlier, Esper Control’s biggest advantage is that it doesn’t rely on combat damage to win games of Magic. This frees up many slots to keep it very consistent against the aggressive decks in the format. It being the only control deck also means that it forces every other opponent to take the proactive role. Midrange decks will have a difficult time because they’re pre-boarded to fight the aggressive decks, not control, giving Esper a good game 1 percentage.

All of the spells in Esper are versatile. This makes decisions very complicated at times, but none are more difficult than those of the opponent. Almost all of Esper’s spells are instants, creating infinite possibilities for an opponent to have to play around. This commonly leads to opponents forcing to make the Esper player "have it." They often do.

I know this deck is well positioned, but I am not skilled in the actual game play. I strongly encourage you to read Brian Braun-Duin article on Esper from last week if you want to pick up this deck.

R/G Aggro

Brad Nelson

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (31)

Lands (21)

Spells (8)

4 Rancor
4 Searing Spear

Sideboard

This deck doesn’t have as aggressive of a start as other aggro decks. It doesn’t even have stand-alone finishers like Falkenrath Aristocrat. What it does have is consistency, which is the most important thing for an aggressive deck right now. Everyone has realized how fast this format can really be (*cough* Naya Blitz *cough*) and have been making adjustments.

This means Pillar of Flame and Tragic Slip are getting the love they deserve. It’s not like these cards aren’t good against this deck, but there just isn’t a good reason to sacrifice consistency for raw power in an aggressive deck when people are packing tools to deal with both. It is time to go back to simpler times and make sure you always have the ability to cast your spells.

Wolf Run Bant

_Batutinha_

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (16)

Lands (26)

Spells (18)

Sideboard

I am not a fan of traditional Bant; I think it’s bad in every way. The deck’s only way to win games is to resolve Sphinx’s Revelation and hope that Thragtusk #3 is enough to win the game. It is weak to many disruption spells and can sometimes not even beat an average aggressive draw since the removal it plays is mostly in creature form.

This list, however, is sweet!

Magic Online grinder _Batutihna_ and his friend Sixco have been working on this list for some time, and I am very impressed with their work. This version of Bant does not need to draw Sphinx’s Revelation to win a game. It also has Loxodon Smiter over Centaur Healer, giving it a much easier time dealing damage against other Hallowed Fountain decks. Dissipate is not where a deck like Bant wants to be since too much of its spells are already sorcery speed. The most logical thing to do at that point is to play more powerful spells than most opponents and become a tapout control deck. Genius move, if I do say so myself.

Since the deck has such a high number of creatures, the only logical move is to play a removal spell like Feeling of Dread. Now, it might not be a true answer to threats, but it does allow the deck to be flexible in how it wants to win a game. Tap some guys and attack is much easier with this addition.

This version is a step in the right direction for Bant Control.

Human Reanimator

Matt Nass

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (21)

Lands (23)

Spells (16)

Sideboard

Many players are doing well with this deck right now, and as much as I think its aggro matchup is seriously lacking, people are actively afraid of playing against Human Reanimator—including me! People are afraid to play against it because they want to cut sideboard hate and try to dodge the deck since there is a low number of people playing it. This makes Human Reanimator a good choice right now for anyone that has confidence in beating a turn 2 Ash Zealot.

Cards

Falkenrath Aristocrat is one of the most powerful stand-alone creatures in Standard. It is a great creature at the top of any aggressive deck’s curve because it not only can protect itself with the help of willing comrades but can be the follow up that deals the final blow against a Supreme Verdict. This card puts any opponent into a difficult position whenever they don’t have an immediate answer to it.

Since Falkenrath Aristocrat is good right now, that makes its kryptonite just as important. Tragic Slip is a great spell at the moment. Not only does this kill a turn 1 Champion of the Perish, but it also helps stem the bleeding when you have defensive creatures. Often enough an aggressive deck will use a removal spell early in a game to clear the road for five to seven uncontested damage. This makes holding one mana extremely efficient since you achieve morbid before any attackers are declared. If your guy doesn’t die, you can kill something post-combat, which can help turn the tide. There has to be a very good reason for a deck to not play this card if it has the mana to cast it.

What is the scariest thing to hear?

A. I’m leaving you.
B. Can I see you in my office?
C. Daryl got bitten!
D. You are turning into Conley Woods.
E. Winter never comes.

The correct answer is "D." I would also accept "F." Everyone except for Andrea died, and she is now the main character."

Acidic Slime is so good right now in any midrange strategy. It deals with Nephalia Drownyard, Staff of Nin, Underworld Connections, Kessig Wolf Run, and subtly Sphinx’s Revelation. It doesn’t have to be the key component, but it gives a deck like Junk Reanimator a lot of options. I was not a believer 24 hours ago. I am today.

I would never have thought this card would see competitive play, but that was back when every deck had a last name of Midrange. Today is much different, and most aggressive decks are running upwards of 30 creatures. This is because, for the most part, threats are better than answers. This gives a card like Gloom Surgeon the wiggle room to be an extremely efficient answer to these aggressive decks. It not only can shut down any two toughness creatures but saves much more life in the long run when the 3/3 companions can’t deal damage without throwing a Burning-Tree Emissary under the bus.

The Bad

Decks

Jund

Reid Duke

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (13)

Planeswalkers (5)

Lands (25)

Spells (17)

Sideboard

"Jund can be built to beat anything, so there’s no one deck that could ever push Jund out of the field. The worst thing that could happen would be that the extremes of the format (Mono-Red Aggro, Reanimator, Esper Control) all gain in popularity at the same time because it’s difficult to beat all of them at once."

– Reid Duke

This is exactly what is happening. Junk Reanimator is gaining popularity on Magic Online, and Jund is having a tough time getting through a sea of three very uniquely polarized strategies. Jund can beat two of the three at the same time, but it does not have the flexibility to vanquish every type of deck that Standard can throw at it. This makes Jund a very poor choice right now.

Naya Blitz

Paulocabral

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (34)

Lands (22)

Spells (4)

4 Searing Spear

Sideboard

I am very conflicted about saying this for many reasons. First, this is my baby. I worked hard on this deck for a whole week, and it is the most influential deck I have ever built. It even took me a week to figure out how to beat it once it got popular on Magic Online. I just don’t think it is consistent enough for Standard. Earlier, I said every aggressive deck can lose their turn 1 creature to a removal spell so it is important to be consistent. This is a prime example. Naya Blitz is by far the most explosive deck in Standard, but it also has the highest percentage of hands that have to be mulliganed. On top of that, the deck mulligans poorly. It was a great choice when early removal wasn’t in any decklists, but that isn’t the case anymore.

The other reason I am conflicted is that this deck is still performing extremely well on Magic Online. There is almost always a Naya Blitz deck in the lists of 4-0 Daily Event decklists, and it even made Top 8 of the MOCS this past weekend. I think the reason I don’t like the deck anymore is that I just can’t handle the swings.

Naya

Brad Nelson

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (24)

Planeswalkers (4)

2 Garruk Relentless
2 Domri Rade

Lands (24)

Spells (8)

Sideboard

Forest + Boros Reckoner?

Avacyn’s Pilgrim with only nine turn 1 sources?

I honestly have no idea why people continue to play this deck. Naya has slower starts than all the aggressive decks, yet too slow of starts for control decks. I could see a reason to play this deck if it had Angel of Serenity, but it doesn’t. I understand if people already own it and just keep grinding it because of availability, but it is gaining popularity on Magic Online. What?

Jund Zombies

Bolovo

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (28)

Lands (23)

Spells (9)

Sideboard

This archetype won the most recent MOCS, but it did so with Pillar of Flame broken on Magic Online. I don’t know if people will move away from this deck, calling it a "metagame decision," but I want to make sure you know what you are getting into before you sleeve this up. Jund Zombies has some very good draws, but it also has serious mana issues. There will be games where you can’t cast your spells, and those will be infuriating. The deck also has a tough time coming back from behind, making it always have to be on the aggressive. This is the downside to not having Boros Reckoner in a control deck.

Cards

This used to be a mediocre sideboard card when everything was midrange. How do people still play this card? It costs four mana when on the top of the library and seven from the hand. Creatures are just too fast, too powerful, and too resilient for a card like Bonfire to be good anymore. Don’t play this card!

I am not a fan of planeswalkers in any maindeck right now. These cards are good against specific strategies but are just awful against any aggressive deck. Planeswalkers are spells that give you more options, but I always feel like I have less of them when they are in my hand. There just isn’t enough time in the course of a game to reliably get enough positive value to justify playing them.

This card is good when the deck that runs it is functioning and the opponent is not. It is often bad in every other situation since both players tend to try to ignore each other. I understand it can be the final points of life via a sac outlet, but it oftentimes is just a do nothing until it can steal a game. This is not enough of a reason for me to want to play a card like this. It is just too high variance.

That is all the "informative" information I have for you guys this week. Everything past this point in the article is purely for durdling purposes. I hope this helps with whatever event you choose to play this weekend, but remember that things will change fast. Standard has never looked this good, and the main reason for it is that it is constantly shifting. I could write this exact same article next week and all the information could be different. Just try to stay on top of it all! Now, I will leave you with decks that I worked on this week when I decided I wanted to brew.

The Ugly

Decks

Jundcaster

Brad Nelson

Test deck on 03-03-2013

Standard

Creatures (17)

Lands (26)

Spells (17)

Sideboard

This is a deck that I worked on for the MOCS last week. That was when Jund was much better positioned. I wasn’t a fan of the planeswalkers in Jund but still liked the archetype. I also wanted to find a way to make the deck a bit more consistent and Huntmaster of the Fells more than just a speed bump.

I was happy with this deck and even made Top 4 of a Premier Event with it. I just don’t think it is good enough to take to a competitive event. It is, however, a really fun variant to play at FNM if you want to spice up your Jund deck. I won’t lie—flipping Huntmaster of the Fells for four consecutive turns is the most fun thing you can do in Standard right now. Well, maybe Restoration Angel targeting an Acidic Slime is a bit more enjoyable. "Crack, fetch, take two!"