In years past, this would be the summer doldrums — the period where Magic has been slowing down while we all wait for the fall set release. This year, M10 has changed that, and the Standard PTQs have inspired a lot more interest in the most common format. I’ve been monkeying around with a lot of Standard decks, which has got me wondering. How do the current batch of Standard decks stack up against the best decks from years past? Can a modern Cruel Control beat Skullclamp Affinity, or Ponza? Could Kithkin handle Replenish? Could Faeries beat Elf and Nail?
Is what used to be broken still broken?
I have been playing Standard for a lot of years now. In my first sanctioned tournament, I played a home-brew built around Karn, Silver Golem against Forbidian, Mono-Black Control, and a Sligh deck. I beat the Sligh deck. However, I remember that the decks that I was playing, and playing against, were very different from the decks of today.
So, are they better or worse than the decks today?
For that matter, what are the best decks today? It seems we have had a lot of PTQs recently, trying to hash that out. We don’t have a consensus; we have a metagame.
To some extent, the best deck, especially the best old deck, is a moot question. The formats are always different, and the best decks in any format are configured to beat the other best decks in the format. In short, you tune decks to beat the metagame. The classic example of this is probably Zvi Mowshowitz‘ The Solution — a deck built around small, White, pro-Red and pro-Green guys in a format dominated by Fires of Yavimaya decks. The MBC decks that preyed on UG Aggro back in the day are probably another example. Now these examples were, I’m pretty sure, block decks, but I chose block decks deliberately. I don’t want to waste time thinking about decks that are not great.
I want to try to remember the best decks from years past.
Here are the archetypes I can remember being impressed by.
Ponza — the Red aggro land destruction builds
Napster — the Black silver bullet deck with Vampiric Tutor and Yawgmoth’s Will
Skullclamp Affinity
Astral Slide
Faeries
Fires
Goblin Bidding
Kithkin
Forbidian
Rec/Sur
Sabre Bargain
Covetous Wildfire
Psychatog — in various forms
Pickles
Seismic Swan
Academy
Stompy
Ghost Dad
Mirari’s Wake
Battle of Wits (really — it won a Grudge Match, made Top 8 at GP Milwaukee, etc.)
Counter Trenches (speaking of GP Milwaukee)
Replenish
Tooth and Nail
Martyr / Proclamation
Sligh
Critical Mass
The Rock and his Minions
Rebels (and Counter Rebels) — and Kibler’s GWR Dragons deck that beat Rebels
UBR Nether Spirit Control
Kooky-Jooky
Dredge
Dragonstorm
UG Madness
G/B Deathcloud
Dralnu
Red Deck Wins 2000
Con-Troll
Elf Ball
Jar Grim
Bubbling Muck
Enduring Ideal
That Girl
Eminent Domain
Glare of Subdual
Heartbeat
KarstenBot BabyKiller
Skred Red
Rector Bargain
Cruel Control
Owling Mine
Original Spanish Inquisition (Searing Meditation Control)
I’ve barely scratched the surface, but copying that into Excel says that I have 50 archetypes named, and that is just a start. I know I missed a bunch. Right? Hey — a quick alphabetical sort reveals that the list ends with UG Madness. No Zoo? I seem to be missing something. Well — a lot of somethings.
Still, 50 archetypes is a decent start. It doesn’t answer the question of whether past decks are better than current decks. The only way to determine something like that would be to play some matches out.
Well, that could be fun. Maybe.
Let’s roll some digital dice, and choose a deck. Then we can play that deck against the Standard decks I have sleeved up. I have a UBR Fairies, a Five-Color Blood, a fun Cascade deck that has won two 20+ player store tournaments, and Kithkin. Hmmm.
This will be a bit strange. The old decks will often have nothing that can deal with Plansewalkers, except for cards like Vindicate and Apocalypse, which destroy “permanents.” Some Standard formats had no artifacts to speak of; others had no enchantments. A deck coming out of a format with no enchantments to worry about could have some troubles with Runed Halo and Bitterblossom. Well, we will see.
The deeper question, here, is whether we have experienced power creep over the years. If the modern decks all blow out the early decks, we may have an answer.
Die roll number one: Ponza.
Nice roll!
A quick check of my decklist archives finds two “Ponza” decklists. One is the Covetous Wildfire deck Kai Budde used to win 1999 Worlds. The other is the deck Adrian Sullivan used to win Wisconsin States in 2004. It’s either going to be a coin flip or a check to see which decks I want to sleeve up — with “sleeve up” probably being metaphorical, since I may end up playing the matches out electronically.
After a quick check of Kai’s deck, it really isn’t Ponza. We’ll use Adrian’s States list. Here it is.
Adrian Sullivan – Ponza – Winner, WI States 2004
4 Firebolt
4 Volcanic Hammer
4 Starstorm
3 Violent Eruption
2 Wildfire
3 Burning Wish
3 Pillage
1 Jeska, Warrior Adept
4 Blistering Firecat
3 Fledgling Dragon
2 Dwarven Blastminer
3 Barbarian Ring
4 Forgotten Cave
16 Mountain
4 Petrified Field
Sideboard:
1 Wildfire
1 Lightning Surge
1 Overmaster
1 Pillage
1 Slice and Dice
3 Spitting Earth
2 Flaming Gambit
2 Flaring Pain
2 Boil
1 Price of Glory
Okay, the thought of playing land destruction against decks with Vivid Lands is kinda amusing. The Faeries matchup, on the other hand — well, I don’t know.
Let’s start: Ponza versus Five-Color Control
Ponza wins the die roll.
Ponza draws Mountain * 2, Forgotten Cave, Firebolt, Pillage, Dwarven Blastminer (!), Starstorm. Do the victory dance & keep!
5CC draws Cruel Ultimatum, Broodmate Dragon * 2, Hallowed Burial, 3 lands. Mulligan. The six includes Vivid Meadow, Reflecting Pool * 2, Volcanic Fallout, Mulldrifter, Esper Charm. That’s a keeper.
Ponza: play Forgotten Cave, go (could have played Mountain and cycled, but Ponza really needs to hit three mana.)
5CC: draw Fallout #2, Vivid Meadow
Ponza: draw Burning Wish, play Mountain, Dwarven Blastminer.
5CC: draw Island, plays Island, go
Ponza: draw Mountain, play Mountain, Pillage Island, beat with Blastminer, go
5CC: draw & play Island, go
Ponza: draw Wildfire, use Blastminer to kill Vivid Land, go
5cc: draw Broken Ambitions, play Reflecting Pool
Ponza: draw Barbarian Ring, play it, use Blastminer on Reflecting Pool, play Firebolt.
5CC: draw Plumeveil
Ponza: draw Mountain, play it, Burning Wish for Pillage, Pillage Island.
5CC: concede — no out to Blastminer
Next game: 5CC is on the play, with Exotic Orchard, Ajani Vengeant, Vivid Crag, Sunken Ruins, Cryptic Command, Violent Fallout, Negate. Ponza mulligans into Barbarian Ring, Mountain * 2, Jeska, Blistering Firecat, Firebolt.
5CC: Vivid Crag, go
Ponza: draws Volcanic Hammer, Mountain, Firebolt to the head
5cc: draws Plumeveil, plays Sunken Ruins
Ponza: draws Mountain, plays Mountain, Firecat, beat for seven (5cc at 11)
5cc: draws & plays Vivid Creek, passes
Ponza: draws & plays Blistering Firecat # 2, beats (5cc at 4), plays Barbarian Ring
5cc: draws & plays Island
Ponza: draws Starstorm, cycles Starstorm drawing Violent Eruption, plays Mountain
5cc: draws Mulldrifter, plays Orchard, evokes Mulldrifter drawing Vivid Marsh, Hallowed Burial.
Ponza: draws Wildfire, plays Jeska, swings for 3.
5CC: draws Island, plays Island, plays Ajani Vengeant, uses Ajani to ping Jeska.
Ponza: draws Volcanic Hammer, casts Hammer — Negated, casts Hammer # 2
5cc: draws Essence Scatter, plays Vivid Marsh, Ajani taps Barbarian Ring
Ponza: draws Burning Wish, casts Burning Wish, 5CC Cryptics Wish, drawing Esper Charm
5cc: draws Plumeveil, locks down Barbarian Ring
Ponza: draws and plays Barbarian Ring, uses Ring for the last two damage.
Ponza versus Faeries
Okay, let’s move on. Ponza vs. UBr Faeries. My list is pretty close to James Bishop’s build.
Faeries wins the roll. Opening hand: Bitterblosson, Thoughtseize, Scion of Oona, Broken Ambitions, Lightning Bolt, Mountain, lsland. The deck has 12 lands that can produce Black mana. Mulligan or no? I list the cards and decide to try keeping. I draw Black cards and no Black sources until dead. Let’s ignore that result.
Ponza draws Mountain, Petrified Field, Forgotten Cave, Fledgling Dragon, Wildfire, Volcanic Hammer, Blistering Firecat. I think I am supposed to mulligan that, but let’s keep.
Let’s assume I mulligan. My six card draw is Island, Mutavault, Vendilion Clique, Spellstutter Sprite, Bitterblossom, Cryptic Command. Not great, but not bad enough to go to five.
Fae: Island, go
Ponza: draws & plays a Mountain
Fae: draws Cryptic, plays Mutavault, go (Ponza — EoT cycle Forgotten Cave for a Firebolt)
Ponza: draws Pillage, plays Mountain and casts Volcanic Hammer to the head.
Fae: draws & plays Vivid Creek.
Ponza: draws Jeska, plays Petrified Field, Pillage on Vivid Creek
Fae: draws Island, plays Island, go
Ponza: draws Volcanic Hammer, cast Volcanic Hammer to the head, Faeries activates Mutavault, then counters with Spellstutter Sprite. Afterwards, Ponza kills Mutavault with Firebolt. (Yes, we were not sure that either Hammer or countering was the right play, but Bitterblossom eats life, too.)
Fae: draws Spellstutter Sprite
Ponza: draws Mountain, plays Mountain, Jeska
Fae: draws & plays Cascade Bluffs (Ponza pings Spellstutter Sprite EoT)
Ponza: draws Starstorm, beats with Jeska (Fae at 14), plays Fledgling Dragon (Fae plays Vendilion Clique EoT on Ponza, hiding Wildfire. Ponza draws Mountain)
Fae: draws & plays Island, go.
Ponza: draws & plays Mountain, go to combat, Cryptic tapping everyone and drawing Broken Ambitions, Jeska pings Clique, play Blistering Firecat as a morph, go
Fae: draws & plays Island, go.
Ponza: draw Firebolt. Play mountain, go to combat, Cryptic tapping everyone and Fledgling, ping with Jeska in response, play Fledgling Dragon, Firebolt (Fae at 10) go.
Fae: draw Mistbind Clique, go
Ponza: draw Barbarian Ring, play Ring, cycle Starstorm (now at threshold), beat for lethal.
The second game went long, but ended when Ponza resolved a Wildfire (Burning Wish into Overmaster, next turn Overmaster — Wildfire), then had double Blistering Firecats the next turn. Only one cat was countered.
Ponza versus Kithkin What I had sleeved is more or less this list.
Kithkin won the die roll and opened with this: Cloudgoat Ranger, 3 * Wizened Cenn, 3 * Plains. Ponza opened with Barbarian Ring, 2 * Mountain, Firebolt, Blastminer, Starstorm, Firecat. Keepers all around.
Kithkin: Plains, go
Ponza draws Forgotten Cave, plays Mountain, go
Kithkin: draws Cloudgoat Ranger, plays Plains, Cenn (Ponza cycles Forgotten Cave EoT, draws Petrified Field)
Ponza draws Firebolt, plays Mountain, Firebolts Cenn
Kithkin: draws Knight of Meadowgrain, plays Plains, Knight
Ponza draws Petrified Field # 2, plays Field, Firebolts Knights
Kithkin: draws Honor of the Pure, plays Pure.
Ponza draws Volcanic Hammer. Plays Ring and Blastminer as a Morph
Kithkin: draws Figure of Destiny, plays Cenn, Figure.
Ponza: draws & plays Mountain, Hammers Wizened Cenn, beats with Morph
Kithkin: draws & plays Plains, pumps Figure, plays Cenn, beats for 4
Ponza draws Violent Eruption, beats with morph, no blocks, Starstorm for 3 to clear the board (Ponza takes another point off Ring, now at 12)
Kithkin: draws Plains, plays Cloudgoat Ranger
Ponza draws Firebolt, plays Violent Eruption to kill Ranger, Firebolt to kill one Kithkin
Kithkin: draws & plays Plains, beats with 2 Kithkin, plays Ranger
Ponza draws Wildfire. Plays Wildfire, keeping mountains.
Kithkin: draws & plays Windbrisk Heights (hiding Honor of the Pure)
Ponza draws & plays Mountain
Kithkin: draws & plays Knight of Meadowgrain.
Ponza draws Volcanic Hammer # 3! Kills Meadowgrain
Kithkin: draws & plays Wizened Cenn
Ponza draws Blistering Firecat, plays it and swings.
Kithkin draws & plays Plains. Swings (Ponza at 4)
Ponza draws Forgotten Cave & cycles Cave into Violent Eruption.
Kithkin draws Honor of the Pure, plays it and swings for lethal
Game 2:
Ponza’s hand is 3 * Mountain, Firebolt, Petrified Field, Volcanic Hammer, Fledgling Dragon
Kithkin’s hand is Heights, 2 * Plains, Figure of Destiny, Wizened Cenn, Spectral Procession, Knight of Meadowgrain.
Ponza: Mountain, go
Kithkin: draws Plains, plays Heights (hiding Spectral Procession vs. lands)
Ponza: draws Violent Eruption, plays Mountain, go
Kithkin: draws Cloudgoat Ranger, plays Plains, Knight , go
Ponza: draws Field, Firebolt the Knight, go.
Kithkin: draws Plains, plays Plains, Spectral Procession, go
Ponza: draws Volcanic Hammer, plays Mountain, Eruption to clear the board.
Kithkin: draws Procession, plays Plains, Procession, Figure, go
Ponza: draws Firebolt, plays Field, Firebolt Figure, play Fledgling Dragon
Kithkin: draws Plains, no attack, plays Plains, Cloudgoat Ranger.
Ponza: draws Mountain, plays Mountain, Hammer on Ranger
Kithkin: draws Plains, plays Plains, attacks with Kithkin, block one, take two, activate Heights
Ponza: draws Wildfire, plays Wildfire (Dragon lives — once Wildfire resolves, over threshold…) Beat for five.
Kithkin: draws Ajani Goldmane
Ponza: draws Mountain, pumps Fledgling Dragon three times & beats.
Kithkin: draws Figure of Destiny. Concedes to lethal flier on board
Okay, that was fun. I love bizarre matchups. On the other hand, one old deck beating three new decks proves nothing. Time to do it again. I grab the die and roll again.
Um. No.
Absolutely not.
There is no way I am pulling together / proxying up this deck.
Not happening. Not even on some electronic Magic simulator.
It isn’t the 4 creatures — it’s the 148 other spells.
Yeah, that deck.
A Proposal
I think I’d like to do a little more work on the question of whether decks from the past are better than, just different from, or worse than current decks.
Let’s find out.
I want to take the two dozen or so “best” Standard decks from years past, and the best half dozen or so decks from this PTQ season, and have a tournament. 32 decks, single elimination. Since sideboarding will be a bit strange, each match will be three out of five games, two played unsideboarded, alternating playing first, then three games sideboarded, alternating, if necessary.
The decks have to have been actually played in a known tournament, and have been Standard legal at that time. Decks which predate the creation of the Standard / Type II format are not legal. (No Twenty-three Black Lotus, Twenty- six Ancestral Recall, 1 Kaervek’s Torch decks, if you please.)
This could be described as an unknown / uncertain metagame, so decks that are highly tuned to beat the mirror are not a great choice. Decks that can beat anything are probably a better option.
So, I need two sets of nominations: the two dozen best / greatest / most powerful Standard decks from the last decade, and the best half dozen decks from this PTQ season, either before or after M10 became legal. The archetypes I listed above is just a starting point. Make your nominations in the forums. Whenever possible, I would appreciate decklists or links. After all, an archetype like “GR Aggro” could cover a lot of lists.
PRJ
“one million words” on MTGO