I could feel their tiny, soulless eyes beset upon me. My each and every move was met with snickers, sneers, jeers. Their stained red lips were curled
in fearsome smiles. There were hundreds- no- thousands of them surrounding me, and from all angles. I had to look up just to see hell.
I slept in a room full of hundreds of tiny clown dolls the night before, and the night of Grand Prix Miami. It was both the most terrifying and
invigorating experience of my life: Fear is the mother of all motivators. I sincerely believe one of them grazed my cheek with its hand while I wasn’t
conscious.
This weekend the shores of South Beach weren’t the hottest place to be in the city- instead a convention hall with a couple thousand Magic players melted
away the frosty tips of all those that decided to come to our sun-soaked coast.
Several weeks ago I knew I would be playing some kind of Outpost Siege deck, and it didn’t feel particularly close. As I wrote about last week, I think Outpost siege is one of the best things
you can be doing in Standard right now, and luckily it is in the color of the other best creature in Standard right now, Goblin Rabblemaster.
Both cards give free wins based on pressure and card advantage, and those are two things I’m happy to sign up for. For the last two weeks myself and friend
John Cuvelier (to be referred to as Cuvi) have been spending our downtime working on various Mardu lists until we finally settled on one that we believe
attacked the Standard metagame in the best possible way.
One of the harder matchups we were dealing with was Sultai Control, and while I didn’t feel like the deck would be super well-positioned going into Miami,
we still understood that it was going to be difficult to win against it if we ignored it and focused on everything else instead. Our hope was that the
newly christened darling of the format, G/W Devotion, would scare most Sultai players away from battling with it. This meant that our Mardu deck wouldn’t
just be good against a lot of decks out there, but it would have a bigger edge if our only truly bad matchup started to get pushed out of the format.
With this information, we came to this list:
Creatures (14)
Lands (24)
Spells (22)
Sideboard
Unfortunately I went 6-3 and lost the last round to make Day 2. The deck was insanely powerful and ran very, very well in most cases. The losses at almost
all points can be attributed to a fundamental flaw in deckbuilding: the mana. All three rounds that I lost were game 3s where I never drew a fourth land.
The biggest stinger came against Grand Prix Memphis champion Jack Fogle, where on the draw I kept three lands, Thoughtseize, double Ashcloud Phoenix (which
destroyed him Game 2) and Outpost Siege. I was able Thoughseize him on turn 3 after putting two non-lands to the bottom of my deck via Temples. I saw that
the way was, pending his draw step, completely clear for my two Phoenix to take over the game. I never drew the fourth land until turn 8 or 9 and died to
Tasigur. Womp Womp.
My two traveling partners, Taylor Raflowitz and Cuvi both played the same 75 and coasted into Day 2, and they both commented that the mana seemed a little
touchy for what we were trying to do.
Most Mardu or R/W Aggro variants sit on 24 lands, and that’s almost certainly correct for them. Our version is playing an additional five-drop though, and
without Outpost Siege, hitting our land drops is harder and more important. Were we being results-oriented due to the misfortune we had with losses
correlating to our missing land drops? It’s entirely possible that we were, but when three players all make the same assessment, it might be time to change
things. The issue was more glaring, however, in the sideboard matchups when we’re boarding out a lot of our two and three casting cost cards in favor of
things that cost four and five.
With this information in mind, I decided to play in the Super Sunday Series the next day. I made a pretty simple cut: a Seeker of the Way for a Temple of
Malice and the increase to 25 lands. The deck hummed, and I traversed through eight rounds with very little interruption. I devoured the R/W decks along
the way while beating Sultai Control, Burn, Abzan, and Gerry Thompson playing a R/W Aggro deck in an early round.
My quarterfinals match was against another R/W deck which seemed outmatched to most of my sideboarding. With three Phoenix and four Crackling Doom, their
plan of going over you with Stormbreath Dragon was no longer their mirror-breaker. Boarding Anger of the Gods also happens to sweep up most of their
smaller threats, and despite being a non-combo with Ashcloud Phoenix, allowed me to not waste removal on their turn 2 play or their potential turn 3
Rabblemaster or Outburst and just sweep away everything. Following it up with a Phoenix was usually good enough to close the game out, not to mention the
obvious synergies with Butcher of the Horde.
I took a loss to friend Canon Mead in the semi-finals on the back of a lot of mana flood in game 1 and getting stuck on lands in game 3, but Canon also
mulliganed and played quite well, so I was happy to lose to a pal. I took my 750 Prize Wall tickets, picked up a few boxes, and went home pleased.
StarCityGames ran one hell of a Grand Prix again, and I wouldn’t hesitate to play Mardu again if I were battling at a Standard event coming up. The fact
that G/W Devotion took home the trophy this weekend bodes extremely well for Mardu, because with the deep amount of testing my team has done, it shows that
Mardu is actually favored, especially after sideboard. This is the deck you want to be on going forward.
For those of you that are thinking of picking up Mardu, I know you like sideboard guides. Traditionally I hate writing them, because I feel like
sideboarding is a very organic process and is something you need to learn on your own- but in this case we came up with a fantastic sideboard plan that I
want to share with all of you.
One thing that I talked about with Gerry after our game was how in vogue it is to board out Goblin Rabblemaster. I agree with him that it is currently
“fashionable” to cut them in favor of other cards, where sometimes playing them and your opponent spending a turn removing it could actually benefit you,
so take that into account when you read this guide. It’s meant to maximize the potential of the sideboard- but please- put your own flair in this.
VS Sultai Control & U/B Control
Out (On the Play):
In (On the Play):
Out (On the Draw):
In (On the Draw):
This matchup was previously quite difficult, but after boarding it feels so much better. Mardu Charm gives you the ability to disrupt their draws along
with Thoughtseize, and without their Dig Through Times they become clunky and ineffective. Chandra acts as Outpost Siege five through six, and I was able
to ultimate her and cast three Mardu Charms in a turn, which was hella neat. Ashcloud Phoenix is such a huge beating against Sultai and U/B, and can win
games on its own or at least force them to use two to three removal spells on a single creature.
VS Mirror & R/W Aggro
Out (On the Play):
In (On the Play):
Out (On the Draw):
In (On the Draw):
All of your cards are fantastic against them. Erase deals with their Outpost Siege and Chained to the Rocks, while Glare can remove threats as well as
Chained to the Rocks. Wingmate Roc is tremendous against R/W, and it made playing Stormbreath Dragon obsolete. Anger of the Gods is absolute brutality
against almost all of their deck, and lets you take a far more controlling role. Mardu Charm kills anything, but the surprise factor of two 1/1s with first
strike will catch tons of people off guard, and I was able to eat my fair share of Rabblemasters by surprise. The Chandras allow us to board out an Outpost
Siege, which lessens the impact of their Erases and still gives us two powerful effects.
VS Jeskai Aggro
Out:
In:
Jeskai might be on the decline, but you still need to be ready for it. A lot of your cards pull double-duty, like how Mardu Charm can kill a Mantis Rider
or steal a Sarkhan from their hand. They have a tough time dealing with Ashcloud Phoenix, so it can pressure their life total and play defense better than
it can in most other matches. Wingmate Roc shines again in another red-based matchup, and Glare can remove their Banishing Lights, Seekers, or Riders. If
you see more than one Outpost Siege rather than Dig Through Times, feel free to bring in Erase.
VS Abzan Midrange
Out (On the Draw):
In (On the Draw):
Out (On the Play):
In (On the Play):
As one of the best decks in the format, you need a plan for Abzan. Luckily, the plan we use for Sultai Control works in this scenario as well due to the
nature of the matchup. We want to pressure them, and thankfully cards like Chandra and Glare can clear a path through Siege Rhino and Stoke can kill
Courser. Their best weapons against you are Sorin and Elspeth, but thankfully both can be dealt with via Butcher of the Horde. Ashcloud Phoenix is solid
against their entire deck except for Abzan Charm, but them not drawing two cards and removing a Phoenix isn’t a huge concern. Just keep putting the screws
to them and eventually they succumb to your sideboard.
VS Abzan Aggro
Out (On the Draw):
In (On the Draw):
Out (On the Play):
In (On the Play):
We’ve entertained the idea of bringing in Anger of the Gods, but the matchup is already good enough. If you’re so inclined you’re more than welcome to
bring out the three Thoughtseize and bring in the three Anger, but it seems like too much. This deck was expected to surge a bit due to a strong matchup
against Sultai Control, but with the G/W Devotion ascending to the throne it may slink back again.
VS G/R Devotion & G/W Devotion
Out:
In:
*If paired against G/W Devotion, you -2 Chandra and +2 Erase.
This matchup has a fairly tough game 1, since cards like Hordeling Outburst and Soulfire Grand Master aren’t very good. Anger of the Gods helps out a lot,
especially against cards like Mastery of the Unseen or Whisperwood Elemental. The games could go either way, and your fliers like Butcher, Roc, and Phoenix
are really all that keep you pushing the damage race. G/W is a little softer, since their lack of Arc Lightning and Crater’s Claws makes things a lot
easier on the pressure you’re exerting. Your Erase can trump their best enchantment, and you could also board Glare in to push back on them further.
VS Mono-Red Aggro
Out:
In:
This matchup is not bad for Mardu and is another reason I’d recommend playing it. Your two-drops are great against most of their deck, forcing them to use
their removal on them. Searing Blood is their best card against you, but a Hordeling Outburst followed by a Butcher of the Horde can just beat them on the
spot. Anger cleans up their entire board, and Roc can’t be killed except for a two-for-one or a Stoke the Flames. This matchup is all about tempo. It’s
winnable on the grounds that your best draw crushes their best draw, but their best draw destroys you if you stumble.
VS W/U Heroic
Out:
In:
You’d think this matchup is Mardu’s bread and butter, but it’s actually quite difficult. A competent W/U Heroic pilot will play around Crackling Doom, put
a board together, and then when the time is right they will pounce. You have to stagger your removal correctly, and despite Anger being pretty abysmal
against them, sometimes when they try to go wide with multiple creatures you can catch them and decimate their board. Wild Slash isn’t even particularly
good against them, so we’ve been tinkering with taking three of them out for the three Phoenix, which hasn’t been bad. Feel out this match on your own and
come to your own conclusions. That’s my best advice.
As you read this I’ll be preparing to head out to…sigh…Cleveland for the Grand Prix. Pray for me. I am a wanted man in that city.
I’m excited for the GP though, even though it is in a city full of my mortal enemies.
Truthfully I’d rather just sleep in a room with a thousand clowns, but you know…play the game, see the world, etc.