This weekend, Wizards of the Coast dropped a surprise bombshell on the tournament community when they announced the changes to the banned and restricted list. Legacy saw the banning of Mystical Tutor and unbanning of Grim Monolith and Illusionary Mask. Extended has had the basic parameters of the format altered, creating what is being called “Double Standard.” Let’s start with Legacy!
The implications of Mystical Tutor’s banning are relatively straightforward. Many ask why Mystical was banned when it does not seem to be totally dominating the Legacy tournament scene. Looking at the Top 8 decklists from the last six StarCityGames.com Legacy Opens, we find 40 copies of Mystical Tutor, with 10 out of a possible 48 competitors using the combo enabler. While a little over 20% of the Top 8 field does represent a high percentage for a format as diverse as Legacy, especially since the Mystical Tutors are showing up in just two winning decks – Reanimator and Ad Nauseam – this is still not what we would normally think of as ban-worthy.
So why the ban? What about Zoo, Merfolk, 43 Land, New Horizons, and various Counter-Top decks? Let me let you in on a little (poorly kept) secret among top pros.
Reanimator, and to a lesser degree Ad Nauseam, ARE the good decks.
Oh sure, the decks listed above are all very reasonable, but the truth is (at least according to some, which includes Wizards R&D…), Reanimator and Ad Nauseam were oppressively good, and while they certainly don’t need to be banned to make the format playable, Legacy is a format that primarily “rotates” through the banned list, unlike Standard, which has a natural method of putting a cap on oppressive strategies. Whereas in Standard, talk of banning Bloodbraid Elf might be thought of as silly (just imagine the format today if THOSE people got their way), as even if Jace, the Mind Sculptor and friends hadn’t risen up, Bloodbraid would still be rotating out, just as Bitterblossom and Reflecting Pool each eventually disappeared.
You think Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf are “problems?” As Michael J. Flores and others with a long view would say: Affinity, Academy, those were problems.
The nice thing about Mystical being banned here is that it weakens both of the fastest and most powerful combo decks in the format, without hurting anyone else. At the same time, it doesn’t totally cripple the decks, which banning Entomb and Ad Nauseam would. There’s nothing wrong with having Reanimator and Ad Nauseam in the format, it’s just that banning Mystical Tutor takes them both down a notch. This means that there is a little less need for Force of Wills and Faerie Macabres. I don’t think this is going to totally shake the foundation of the format, but I am much more excited for Grand Prix: Columbus. So much possibility!
Grim Monolith being unbanned is an interesting nut to crack. Is Grim Monolith the push Mono-Brown decks need? Turn 1 Trinisphere is a scary threat, sure. What about some sort of accelerated Blue deck with Voltaic Keys and Grim Monoliths? I would think it won’t be format dominating, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to form at least one Tier 1.5 deck in Columbus. The secondary market seems to be suggesting that quite a few people see potential in it…
Illusionary Mask is a bit more predictable in implication. Illusionary Mask’s primary function in tournament play is to allow players to summon Phyrexian Dreadnaughts for one mana (but without having to sacrifice any creatures). Unlike in the old days, creatures summoned by the Mask are vulnerable to countermagic, though the Blue Mage will not know for sure if they are really countering a Dreadnaught. For instance, a common play is to pay two mana and summon a guy face down. Is it the Dreadnaught or is it the Dark Confidant? If the Blue Mage has only one Force of Will, it is quite the guessing game. New decks employing this combo are sure to arise, most likely using the classic Force of Will/Brainstorm shell.
The changes to Legacy are welcome, relatively minor changes. Let’s switch to the new Extended, referred to by many as “Double Standard.”
As you have no doubt heard, Extended has changed now to include on the last four years of cards, rather than seven. Why this change, and why now? After all, what about all our Shocklands? How could Wizards do this to us?!
Seriously, let’s get some perspective here. Shocklands have several functions, serving as cheap alternatives for Vintage and Legacy players, filling out casual decks from EDH on, and who knows, maybe there will be an Overextended in the next year or two? What changed? Well, now shocklands aren’t legal in Extended, but at the end of the day, this doesn’t actually change that much, since no one actually plays Extended anyway. Talk about a stale format! Just about the only Extended tournaments that were taking place were PTQs, GPs, and Pro Tours, and those only because Wizards “Makes Us.” Why not redefine the format as one that people would actually want to play?
When I heard the announcement, I wanted to start building decks immediately, as there are few as alluring sirens as a virgin format. What I discovered was that this format is a surprisingly new style of format in that it has an amount of sets legal that has not been used in many years. Four years worth of cards is substantially more than any Standard format ever, but substantially less than any Extended format. This isn’t just a tweak on an old format… this is a brand new animal. There are so many rich possibilities, so many ideas to explore. To make it even better, Sword of the Meek and Hypergenesis being banned from day one goes a long way towards opening the doors of what could be.
Many people have speculated what the new format will look like, and thus far it seems to be pretty surface level stuff like “Faeries is obviously the best” to “Five-Color Control is obviously the best” to “Jund is obviously the best.” I happen to think that this format is actually going to be quite different to a Best of Standard. Still, that is a fine starting point. After all, one of the big advantages of this format is people that are not heavily invested in the tournament scene will be able to compete in Extended tournaments with their Standard decks without being totally embarrassed. In addition, if someone has just one Standard deck, they can actually just get a few cards to tune it for Extended. This is a nice option for people that are concerned that it is too expensive to try to keep up with both Standard and Extended, as this way there can be overlap if you like.
Let’s start by examining some of the most obvious basic strategies to explore, with an eye to not only what cards can be used to “update” the decks, but how the various other possibilities (some of which weren’t legal when these strategies debuted) affect things. First up? The Bad Guys.
Creatures (12)
Lands (25)
Spells (23)
Damnation, Deathmark, Thoughtseize, Flashfreeze, Mystical Teachings, Faerie Trickery, Sower of Temptation, Extirpate, Jace Beleren, Negate, Puppeteer Clique, Spell Pierce, Gravitational Shift, Kozilek’s Inquisition, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor are all great sideboard options, just off the top of my head, and there are countless more. Still, let’s focus on the maindeck for now.
First, just to be clear, this list is literally just a first draft, as there are so many options to explore, we have to start somewhere. Why would I, of all people, not be playing Jace, the Mind Sculptor in my first draft of Faeries? Well, Jace is a four-drop in a deck that is not exactly short of four-drops, but on top of that, it is a “sorcery.” It is possible that Jace is the answer, no question, but this version tries to stay true to the core Faeries strategy of aggro control operating at instant speed.
Creeping Tar Pit seems like a pretty obvious upgrade and I would think Ancestral Vision is the default card drawer. Beyond that, it just comes down to trying different combinations of cards. I gotta say, it is certainly much more interesting to build Faeries decks when there are so many real choices, unlike some past formats (once they have been “solved”).
Faeries is not just going to have to be built on its own power, but taking into consideration how much more aggressive this format is. Magus of the Moon? Vengevine? Volcanic Fallout? Cloudthresher? Great Sable Stag? Bloodbraid Elf? Goldmeadow Stalwart? Okay, just kidding on that last one…
Creatures (7)
Planeswalkers (2)
Lands (26)
Spells (25)
I am hesitant to even list a Five-Color Control deck, as without better understanding of the format, it is just wild speculation. One must understand what problems need to be solved in order to solve them. Still, better to list than not, right? It is a starting place. Again, why not more Jace? Honestly, I probably haven’t come to my senses yet. I am guessing that Jace, the Mind Sculptor is probably going to turn out to be awesome in this sort of deck… it is just going to take some work to find the right mix.
Why Lightning Bolt? It is fast, sure, but it actually accomplishes a lot of nice things. Great Sable Stags; Jace, the Mind Sculptors; Creeping Tar Pits; Putrid Leeches; Magus of the Moon; Figure of Destiny; Vendilion Cliques and more. Creeping Tar Pit is additional Jace protection, as one of the primary constraints of a deck like this in such a deep format is that you have to have lots of reliable answers for difficult problems that need to be addressed immediately. You can’t just let people Jace you; besides, you need victory conditions, and I suspect that Creeping Tar Pit turns out to be totally awesome versus Faeries (being a big reason why they NEED Agony Warp).
One of the most important strategies, I suspect, will turn out to be Mono-Red or Red/Green. The two primary ways to build this sort of a deck would seem to be either Red Deck Wins or Demigod Red, like the deck with which Michael Jacob won the 2008 National Championships.
Creatures (16)
Lands (24)
Spells (20)
Creatures (24)
- 4 Magus of the Scroll
- 4 Magus of the Moon
- 4 Ashenmoor Gouger
- 4 Demigod of Revenge
- 4 Figure of Destiny
- 4 Kargan Dragonlord
Lands (24)
Spells (12)
As you can see, while there is a fair bit of overlap on each of these strategies, they both benefit from a deep enough card pool to play “all good cards,” which has classically been the Mono-Red deck’s weakness. Everyone loves their Lightning Bolts and Searing Blazes, but having to play those filler cards just to get to 60 has always kind of held them back. Personally, I think that while the RDW is easy and obvious, it is still just the same old vulnerable Red Burn strategy that is easily hated out. Michael Jacob style Demigod Red is much more durable and will probably be one of the defining decks in the format early on. Its card quality is high, and Demigod, Dragonlord, and Magus of the Moon provide lots of free wins. It’s a shame to not have Skred, but that is hardly the end of the world (it just means a little more vulnerability to Baneslayer Angel, among other things). It’s amazing to think that the Red deck might be too good for Incinerate!
Creatures (18)
Lands (27)
Spells (15)
Sideboard
Another obvious strategy, Jund is a strong deck in its own right, but it also receives some great additions. To start, Tarmogoyf is Putrid Leech 5-8, which totally changes the pace of the Jund deck, especially when you consider that Twilight Mire means that Jund is going to be able to play a super powerful two-drop on turn 2 most of the time instead of just its good draws. Next, Bituminous Blast looks better than ever. It was already great in current Standard, but now we are imaging a world of Mistbind Cliques, Plumeveils, Kargan Dragonlords, and Figure of Destiny. Bituminous Blast seems unreal.
Another very enticing aspect of Jund is how many weapons they naturally have against Faeries and Five-Color Control. Fallouts, Stags, Putrid Leech, Bit Blast, Bloodbraid Elf… this is like a laundry list of cards that destroy Faeries. I think there is little doubt that Jund will be a defining deck of the format.
Creatures (29)
- 2 Twisted Abomination
- 4 Street Wraith
- 4 Shriekmaw
- 4 Fulminator Mage
- 4 Jungle Weaver
- 4 Monstrous Carabid
- 3 Valley Rannet
- 4 Deadshot Minotaur
Lands (19)
Spells (12)
With Hypergenesis banned, what combo decks will spring up to take its place? Living End is certainly one obvious starting point, as it loses only Shocklands. This combo is relatively fast, has back-up plans, and can is surprisingly resilient. Its weakness? It is soft against true Blue decks, a dangerous proposition in the new Cryptic Command era. It will also suffer a little at first from being the first combo deck on people’s radars. I actually think U/W/R Reveillark will be a more exciting option for combo, as it gains Sea Gate Oracle, Wall of Omens, Scalding Tarn, Arid Mesa, Glacial Fortress, and so much more.
Other combos to think about include Scapeshift, Mono-Red Dragonstorm, Hivemind + Future Sight Pacts, Punishing Fires + Grove of the Burnwillows, and Seismic Swans. The nice thing is, despite all these combo decks, none of them are actually so fast that you can’t play a midrange strategy. It is interesting that the combos hit from such different angles.
It’s so tough with such a fresh format, as without playing a single game, it is hard to tell what happens when you run the natural Faeries deck into the natural MJ Red and the Natural Reveillark into Natural Jund. For now, it is a brewer’s paradise. Hopefully these ideas provide a good starting point, as I have found that one of the most valuable assets when building decks for a new format is some sort of a gauntlet.
I am headed to St. Louis this weekend for the StarCityGames.com Open, most likely rocking Next Level Bant in Standard and some crazy experiment in Legacy, which should be totally fun. See you next week, with new M11 to discuss!
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”