I want to re-emphasize Sam Black push for players to try new strategies.
I spent this past weekend watching the Pro Tour and SCGLive coverage in hopes of excitement and drama from the Pro Tour side, and new archetypes (and
hopefully Kamikaze) on the StarCityGames.com Open Series side. The latter did not deliver…at all. The top eight had only aggro decks: G/R Aggro, Naya,
U/W Delver, and R/W Humans.
Many people have their theories as to why we see results such as these and a lack of innovation. My personal belief is that there is a gigantic shortfall
of brewers in Magic. We see innovation and diversity when there are more Standard tournaments happening, and we are only in week two of Avacyn Restored
Standard with only two StarCityGames.com Standard Opens to set the metagame. Magic Online perhaps has a larger influence than most want to believe, because
currently there is no Avacyn Restored on Magic Online and so no information.
This saddens the brewer in me! That’s not to say I expect people to play my decks, but players should be trying to get an edge in their tournament play,
and these first couple of weeks were a great opportunity. It’s not too late to work on something for next week either.
It’s rather unreal how many ideas are always blasting through my brain that will never have the chance to come to fruition because of lack of time. The
decks I often feel comfortable with are ones I adore that also perform well in the first few matches I try them. For instance, I feel Red Deck Wins isn’t
getting enough credit for its potential. The main reason is a card very few have spoken about – Stonewright.
Creatures (24)
- 3 Grim Lavamancer
- 4 Chandra's Phoenix
- 4 Stormblood Berserker
- 4 Stromkirk Noble
- 4 Vexing Devil
- 4 Stonewright
- 1 Archwing Dragon
Lands (22)
- 22 Mountain
Spells (14)
Nothing really new is going on here, but the addition of Stonewright puts me in a position where I’d strongly consider this entering a StarCityGames.com
Standard Open and definitely an FNM. How often do we see Red Deck Wins jump in an event and take it down, followed by the community going “wow, that was
unexpected”?
If burning your opponent isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other options that Avacyn Restored opened up. Yet another sleeper card that shows some
promise is Somberwald Sage. Ramping for three is big game. Perhaps one of my favorite ideas from my past has been U/G land interruption-style beats. Here’s
an untested idea that has me wanting to delve deeper.
Creatures (28)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 3 Acidic Slime
- 4 Frost Titan
- 4 Consecrated Sphinx
- 2 Scorned Villager
- 4 Somberwald Sage
- 3 Wolfir Avenger
Lands (24)
Spells (8)
Under normal circumstances, throwing a bunch of creatures on the board and then getting blown out by a board sweeper can be instant death. U/G Lockdown
tries to start fast enough that your opponents can’t accomplish their goals. Green Sun’s Zenith consistently finds the ramp cards you want, particularly
Somberwald Sage. Anytime you get a Somberwald Sage on the board and it sticks, your opponent knows that you could have any number of huge creatures coming
down. This isn’t a deck that could stay consistently at the top, but it’s a deck that could catch many off guard for a week or two when they don’t have
enough hate for all the mana ramp creatures.
This is mostly a non-interactive build despite using Acidic Slime and Frost Titan, but it’s fast enough that it pretends to be an aggro deck. How many
games will you lose when you stick a turn three Sphinx? The answer: not many.
Dethroning Delver may never happen while the archetype is legal in our current Standard format, but Delver has never been a Caw-Blade style dominating
deck. In fact, I think the format as a whole makes huge gains with Avacyn Restored, while Delver is such a tuned list that it doesn’t gain much, if
anything. We should be using this to our advantage because Avacyn Restored is chock-full of powerful cards, many that we have not fully understood yet.
As readers of my articles have seen, I know for a fact this updated 75 cards can take down Delver, and a whole lot else. There has been extremely positive
feedback from my friends over on Twitter; not everyone is having quite the success I am, but some are. It’s interesting because I think the deck is tougher
to play well than most think. Here is an updated Kamikaze list.
Creatures (29)
- 3 Phyrexian Metamorph
- 4 Porcelain Legionnaire
- 4 Diregraf Ghoul
- 4 Gravecrawler
- 4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
- 4 Geralf's Messenger
- 4 Blood Artist
- 2 Soulcage Fiend
Lands (23)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
Unfortunately there was no sign of Kamikaze at the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Madison, but consider testing this list out for your next outing.
Many articles have been written about why people are afraid to try new ideas, ranging from lack of confidence to testing results and even fear of failure.
The amount of work to come up with a list that is ready to win a tournament of 300 or more people is daunting, but I find it wildly enjoyable. The entire
point of my Magic obsession is finding the “best deck.” It’s mostly unrealistic, but like a mad scientist, I refuse to give up, even if that “best deck”
may last only a single week. It takes passion and dedication to search for the “best deck,” and to get to that point I believe you must enjoy what you are
doing.
I can relate to that hurdle.
But when I see results like this weekend’s, it really has me scratching my head. Millions of people play this game we love, yet so few even attempt to find
an edge in one of the most important aspects of the game – deckbuilding.
Perhaps a list like this sweet Blink deck from Ken Bearl is
capable of some domination. I haven’t tried this strategy out yet, but it looks to be almost an aggro-control deck, perhaps one that could be pushed a
little further in the aggro spectrum while maintaining defensive measures like Stonehorn Dignitary, who can also wield some equipment. That said, I know
how frustrating it can be for someone to not understand your deck before trying to make changes. I’m just offering variety in spirit of this article,
additional ideas that are perhaps worth testing.
Creatures (19)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (23)
Spells (16)
I won’t bother with acting like I know the right sideboard for this deck. I’m also disappointed Ken’s list didn’t do better as he had a hot start. I do
believe there is something here and Ken’s numbers may be much closer to correct. Let’s not forget that Venser, the Sojourner actually has a minus ability!
Incredible, huh? This deck is the best use of Venser I’ve seen to date, and I am far from a Venser fan.
There are lots of cards that have been on my mind that beg for innovations: Wolfir Avenger, Stonewright, Blood Artist, black cards in general, Wolfir
Silverheart, miracles, Restoration Angel, and Wingcrafter, just to name a few. We’ve seen most of these cards already but the applications have seemed
pretty consistent. Maybe there’s something outside the box?
We won’t know unless we try!
Our Standard pool is almost at its largest point during a cycle. What usually happens around this time? Decks like Mythic Bant happen. I don’t feel the
power level of a deck is near what Mythic Bant was, but we have a card pool of similar size without any new breakout strategies.
We saw Alexander Hayne do it this weekend for Innistrad Block Constructed. Can someone do it for Standard?