First off, I’d like to thank Adrian Sullivan for his column this week; as a fellow Magic long-timer, it was a lot of fun reading his nostalgia-filled stories and remembering my Magical “good ol’ days” too. Even more so, thanks to his column, I rediscovered something from my Magic past I had thought lost forever… but I’ll save that story for the end of this column, since I know what everyone really wants to read about is NEW STANDARD TECH!
I know that’s what I’ve been looking for… and it’s been woefully lacking. There have been some gems here and there, but for the most part all the professional Magic players-slash-writers have been busy working on Shards of Alara Block Constructed for the upcoming pro tour and haven’t really made the time to work on Standard unless they’re planning on hitting Grand Prix: Seattle.
Now, I know I’m a poor stand-in for these strategy-meisters, but I figured the least I could do is share with you some of the new deck ideas I’ve been kicking around. Maybe with some feedback from you in the forums we could whip some of these into fighting shape. Regionals is just a week away, and let’s not forget that StarCityGames.com is having a double-shot PTQ weekend right here in Richmond, starting tomorrow.
TOMORROW?! Yikes!
Luckily, we don’t have to start from scratch; last weekend there was a PTQ in Dallas featuring a brand new Standard. It had a pretty good turnout of 140, and B/W Tokens was the dominant deck of the day; despite over 20 archetypes played, B/W Tokens made up nearly 15% of the field and claimed 3 of the Top 8 slots, including the coveted 1st place blue envelope. By the time this column goes up hopefully the top 8 decks will be loaded into the StarCityGames.com deck database, but if not it’s not too hard to track them down. [Yep, we have them here – Craig.] Obviously, the #1 question you need to answer when building or choosing your deck for the new Standard is: how do you handle swarms of tokens?
Hmm, sounds a lot like the #1 question you needed to answer for the old Standard, eh?
Okay, so the thing I’m most interested is, what Alara Reborn cards made an immediate impact?
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
Zealous Persecution
The big breakout for this archetype appears to be Zealous Persecution, a powerhouse little card I’m sure didn’t escape most people’s notice, with a color combination that fits perfectly into an already strong core deck. This deck likes to make lots of little tokens and then make them bigger, and Persecution does this at instant speed while doubling as neo-removal against opposing 1/1 weenies. As a combat trick it is devastating, turning smart blocking into disaster. I imagine the card particularly shines in the mirror match, and in this field Persecution was a great call.
Of course, the deck already sports Glorious Anthem and Ajani Goldmane, so you want to be careful about drawing too many creature pumps and not enough creatures or creature generators. To help make room for Persecution, Peralta shaves the count of each down to three.
The fact that this card so easily drops into one of the top decks of the format has me concerned about any decks relying on Birds of Paradise and Noble Hierarch… you keep a slightly land-light draw but you’ve got double Hierarch and figure you’re okay when your opponent drops a Windbrisk Heights…
Identity Crisis
It’s hard to argue this isn’t a strict upgrade to Head Games on the power scale, bringing back painful memories of Amnesia from back in the day. At least this card is the right color and not Blue! How ridiculous was that?
Yeesh… I was just imagining this cast off Windbrisk Heights – ouch! What a disaster that would be for the opponent.
What’s important I think as opponents of B/W Tokens to not forget this card exists; I know sometimes I will sandbag the final land I need to cast a big spell that I haven’t drawn yet in order to keep “mystery cards” in hand until I draw the big spell, play the land and cast it. Head Games wouldn’t change that tactic, but Identity Crisis certainly would – you lose that land in hand and suddenly your top deck savior is a blank until you also draw a land.
Creatures (13)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (24)
Spells (21)
- 4 Rampant Growth
- 4 Fertile Ground
- 2 Loxodon Warhammer
- 2 Primal Command
- 1 Banefire
- 4 Volcanic Fallout
- 4 Maelstrom Pulse
Sideboard
Maelstrom Pulse
There’s a reason why this card is the hot money single from this set (with Evan dub this “Maelstrom Cash Purse” perhaps?); for those of us struggling to figure out the best answers to the difficult questions of the metagame, the simple answer might just be Maelstrom Pulse, said in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.
Spectral Procession? Maelstrom Pulse.
Bitterblossom? Maelstrom Pulse.
Bitterblossom tokens? Maelstrom Pulse.
Ajani? Maelstrom Pulse.
Glorious Anthem? Maelstrom Pulse.
Sower of Temptation? Maelstrom Pulse.
Hmm, I think Chameleon Colossus just got a little more street cred…
I have to say I’m impressed Justin Lenhart acquired 4 copies for his deck the two days after the set released. Personally, I’ve opened 3.5 boxes of Alara Reborn and only got 2 Maelstrom Pulses out of them. Who knew there was a rarity higher than Mythic? Yeah, I’m a little bitter about that.
So… that was it? No other hot tech Alara Reborn cards in here? Maybe Mr. Lenhart had to trade away all the rest of his Alara Reborn cards (and his firstborn) to get those Pulses…
Creatures (22)
- 4 Mulldrifter
- 4 Sower of Temptation
- 4 Reveillark
- 4 Kitchen Finks
- 2 Glen Elendra Archmage
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
Lands (21)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
Those of you who have a playset of Knight of the White Orchid were hoping the Borderposts would give them added value, and Ben Jackson proved that, indeed they do. He’s running just two colors and 12 basic lands and made it to the Top 8, so I’d use that as a baseline for any other decks with Orchid/Borderpost synergies people might be trying out.
So… other than the Borderposts, there’s no other Alara Reborn action here. Sigh.
Creatures (29)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Civic Wayfinder
- 2 Cloudthresher
- 4 Wren's Run Vanquisher
- 3 Chameleon Colossus
- 3 Kitchen Finks
- 4 Wilt-Leaf Liege
- 3 Noble Hierarch
- 2 Lord of Extinction
Lands (23)
Spells (9)
Sideboard
I wonder if Brian’s related to Rod Tidwell from Jerry Maguire? Show me the money!
Yeesh, did I really go there?
Maelstrom Pulse
Aha, a two-fer! Maelstrom Pulse is certainly the real deal, and everything I said above applies here. It’s an obvious perfect fit for B/G Elves, a deck that’s still cropping up in Standard Top 8s. The fact that this deck is at the bottom of the heap while B/W tokens fills out the Top 4 makes me think that, while Maelstrom Pulse is a fine answer card, you need more answers to beat the B/W token deck.
Lord of Extinction
Ah, there’s the big fella! I’m curious if Tidwell determined he only wanted 2 copies or whether card availability was a factor. Personally, I’d like to see at least three copies of him in this deck. Tidwell got the perfect framework to make the Lord shine, packed with must-deal with creatures all long the mana curve, starting with Wren’s Run Vanquisher, up to Kitchen Finks, and then Chameleon Colossus. Sure, Lord is a big dumb creature that can easily be handled by much of the removal in the format, but if you’re holding back your Path to Exile, Terminate, or Unmake for the Lord, these other creatures will be more than willing to kill you in the meantime. You want to overload your opponent’s creature removal early on and then drop the hammer that will kill them in one or two attacks.
Giving the Lord fear with Profane Command’s gotta be a beating too.
So… Five new cards in the entire Top 8… not exactly an auspicious start for the new set, but perhaps card availability (only two days after release) made it difficult for people to try out the cards they may have wanted to?
Speaking of B/G decks featuring Lord of Extinction, I’ve got one I’ve been working on too:
Creatures (19)
Lands (23)
Spells (18)
I love the fact that there’s only 8 actual elf creatures in this deck, but you’ve got 19 of them for tribal purposes. There’s been some low-level buzz on Putrid Leech and I agree that he’s the real deal. Anyone who remembers using Basking Rootwalla’s pump ability (or, more recently, Twinblade Slasher), the same applies here – if you smell a removal spell from your opponent, don’t pump the Leech, especially if you think it’s something that will kill a 2/2 but not a 4/4. Not much is worse than a Volcanic Fallout in response to your +2/+2 activation on the stack.
Of course, the beauty of this deck is that you can use the Leech to specifically sucker out that removal spell before casting the bigger threat. Pump that Leech with reckless abandon, then when he Path of Exiles him in response, knock that smile off his face when you cast Chameleon Colossus… or Lord of Extinction!
Now, Tidwell’s results above have me thinking I’d probably do well to have some number of Infests in the maindeck, especially since none of my creatures die to it other than the chump-blocking specialists Wayfinders. Maybe swap the Scepters into the board for Infests? Is two enough?
I’m also trying to figure out a way to work some Finks in too, since they also qualify as a hard-to-handle creature. Can I afford to trim a few of the tribal cards and still have enough for Vanquisher/Palace to work just fine?
Another deck I’ve been working on is this one, featuring everyone’s favorite Rabid Wombat, evolved to legendary proportions:
Creatures (15)
- 3 Chameleon Colossus
- 3 Qasali Pridemage
- 4 Uril, the Miststalker
- 3 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
- 2 Dauntless Escort
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (24)
Spells (15)
Said in that cool movie preview announcer voice: In a world where pinpoint removal is plentiful and deadly, Uril the Mistalker walks unafraid… in a time when creatures are large but oh, so fragile… one Wombat stands strong… [Get out of the booth, Bennie — Craig, amused.]
For decks relying on Path to Exile, Terminate, Sower of Temptation or Maelstrom Pulse to answer big threatening creatures, Uril’s trollshroud ability makes him the ultimate unanswerable question, and his 5/5 size makes him large enough to laugh off commonly-played sweeper spells outside of Wrath of God. If that was all Uril had to offer it would still be pretty awesome.
But we’re talking about a Mythic rare here! Uril apparently has a Rabid Wombat heritage, and it would be a shame not to take advantage of it, so that’s why I’ve squeezed in the second coming of Zur – Sovereigns of Lost Alara! These guys are the perfect follow-up to your turn 4 Uril: drop the Sovereigns, attack with Uril alone, search up Runes of the Deus to enchant Uril, and you’ve got a 10/10 trampling, double-striking Super Wombat! Or you could be more cautious and enchant him with Shield of the Oversoul to make him flying and indestructible first since you’d hate for Wrath of God to screw up your killer board position. Of course, that’s why I added in the Dauntless Escorts as extra Wrath protection, though I imagine they will soak up some of that pinpoint removal that can’t target Uril.
Here’s a funky little deck I cooked up trying to figure out how to abuse Time Sieve:
Creatures (19)
- 4 Etherium Sculptor
- 1 Master of Etherium
- 4 Puppet Conjurer
- 2 Sharuum the Hegemon
- 1 Ethersworn Adjudicator
- 1 Master Transmuter
- 2 Sphinx Summoner
- 4 Vedalken Outlander
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (17)
- 5 Plains
- 5 Swamp
- 3 Island
- 4 Arcane Sanctum
Spells (17)
The ideal set-up is to be able to make 5 Homunculi each turn with Puppet Conjurer(s) to sacrifice to Time Sieve for infinite Time Walks, eventually killing with Jace or Tezzeret. You’ve got 4 Conjurers, 2 Unbender Tine, a Thousand-Year Elixir and a Rings of Brighthearth, along with Tezz and Summoners to tutor and Sharuum to retrieve any pieces that get blasted along the way. Even if you don’t have the ideal set-up, even if you can only make 3 or 4 Homunculi, sacrificing some other artifact or two that’s not really needed in order to Time Walk is probably worth it, especially if it’s a Chromatic Star, or a chump blocker that’s gonna die anyway.
I love the Unbender Tine in here, giving you mana off the Borderposts, or double use from Transmuter, Adjudicator, or Puppet Conjurers – don’t forget those Homunculi make good chump blockers even if you’re not going off!
I wouldn’t think this deck was a very good choice for a PTQ or Regionals, but I think it might be a fun deck to spring on your FNM crowd for something different!
I know the question on everyone mind (at least those who’re reading this) is: so what are you playing, Bennie? The answer as of this writing: I don’t know. I’ve got a few choices I’m mulling around, including some posted right here, but I haven’t made any final decisions. I’ll probably have at least two sleeved up for the weekend, in case my choice on Saturday proves to be an utter disaster.
Of course, I’ll also have an EDH deck in case I get eliminated early…
Anyway, for those of you who are PTQing this weekend (maybe right here in Richmond), good luck and I hope you rock some people’s world with some Alara Reborn cards!
Blast from the Past
Okay, so continuing with what I was talking about in the intro, I was reading Adrian Sullivan column, and I ran across his link to the Classic Dojo page. It was fun poking around over there, and yeah – I found a few things I wrote. Even though I was a scrub, I was a prolific writer on USENET and occasionally Frank Kusumoto would find something I wrote worthy of scooping up and posting to his awesome site.
After poking around there some, I clicked on the link to the “new” Dojo, circa 1998-2001. This takes you to the Wayback machine, internet archive, with lots and lots (AND LOTS) of links for clicking.
On a lark, I decided to click on the link for Nov 14, 1999. That would be soon after the high-water mark in my tournament Magic career, when I won the 1999 Virginia State Champs. Checking out the front page, there’s features by Anthony Alongi and Mike Flores! I scroll down to the bottom and there’s a link for “T2 TECH: US State Championships Page!” Figuring that maybe they’ll have my decklist, I click on it.
It takes me to the Tournament Report section. My heart skips a beat. Could it have…?
See, earlier in 1999, StarCityGames.com first editor, Omeed Dariani scooped up me and a bunch of other USENET Magic writers to come write for Star City’s brand new website, and when I won the Champs tournament I wrote up a tournament report about it. About two years later Star City’s website underwent some renovations, including a new server, and in the process many of the archived columns got deleted, including my winning tournament report. Dismayed, I realized that I could not find my original file! I sent out a call to my readers to see if anyone might have downloaded the report to read later and may have happened to save it, to no avail.
I thought it was gone forever.
So, back to the tournament report page… there are some recognizable names, old reports that are totally worth reading even now – of course Jamie Wakefield top 8 report, one by Adrian Sullivan, Evil Don Lim, Mary Van Tyne…
Lo and behold, I scroll to the bottom of the page, and under Virginia is this glorious link!
A Very Good Day at the Virginia State Championships — B. Smith
I note with a little irritation that there is no *1st* behind my name like there is for every other winner whose tournament report is posted, but that’s no big deal – what’s important is that my winning tournament report is right there! It’s not been lost forever!
I immediately copy it into a Word document and save it on my thumb drive, then go back and read it, smiling at the memories.
Thanks, Adrian – for the great story, and for pointing me towards the rabbit hole and letting me find what I thought was gone to the sands of time!
Wish me luck this weekend, everyone – I’m gonna need a heaping helping of it! Maybe finding that old winning tournament report on The Dojo will give me a little extra Magic mojo…
Take care…
Bennie
starcitygeezer AT gmail DOT com