FRF! Finally Revealed Format! Fate Reforged is fully spoiled, and everyone’s taking their shot at
examining the new set, picking the low-hanging fruit, and digging for those hidden gems. Every day during spoiler season, I’m balancing my everyday
activities with the spoiler just one click away on my browser, refreshing midday to soak in the new cards. Some are inspirational enough that I’ll have a
list and proxied deck ready an hour later, ready to bring a sleeved stack of paper placeholders to my local shop that afternoon.
We all have that joy though; we love to brew and we love to get new ingredients!
As both a small set and an addition to an already established Standard, the impact of Fate Reforged might be more modest than a brand-new fall set.
However, there is an added benefit: the existing cardpool is well-known, so there’s room for new cards to slot into familiar strategies and affect their
efficiency or approach, and there’s room for entirely new archetypes to develop.
Fate Reforged has plenty of cycles, much like Khans of Tarkir, each with a relevant focus color and similar structure. As we’re just starting to review
Fate Reforged, I want to spend a minute talking about one cycle in particular and, namely, which of the cycle might have the most potential to do anything,
both for serious Magic and for the more casual Standard crowd: the Siege cycle.
The Siege cycle of rare enchantments captures the flavor of Fate Reforged, where there’s a choice in everything you do, kind of an “own your own destiny”
thing in the form of a card. The Siege cycle offers a pair of drastically different abilities keyed to the choice of either Khans or Dragons, and there’s
really no definitive right or wrong answer. Both modes are deck-dependent, and in many cases, also rely heavily on the board position of both you and your
opponent.
For me, the Siege cycle might be the most impactful cycle for brewers because of this flexibility, their difficulty to target, and the synergies present in
Theros block regarding devotion (which loves noncreature contributors) and various constellation triggers.
There are some, however, that I believe have the most potential. That means, sadly, that some have the least potential. Where do they fall in order?
5. Palace Siege
The Sultai-flavored enchantment is perhaps the least impressive, and it’s not necessarily because the abilities are weak, but it’s how much you have to pay to get those abilities. At five mana, Palace Siege is not only out of range for early impact, it’s also in competition for some of the best
black cards in Standard. The first and second ability hint strongly at, and work efficiently with Gray Merchant of Asphodel. However, nine times out of ten
I’d rather just cast the Merchant. Palace Siege has no immediate impact, so it won’t be until turn 6 that you see either a Syphon Life or Raise Dead
effect. Both abilities, especially when repeated, are powerful in a slow to midrange build. But with hard hitters like Crux of Fate and Liliana Vess
fighting for that space, is this really all you want to be doing?
Outpost Siege is probably the worst of the decent, but unlike Palace Siege, you can significantly leverage it depending on the type of deck you’re playing.
For a burn deck or a midrange deck that would otherwise, or in addition, play Chandra, Pyromaster, the Khans mode offers a lot of advantage in a
harder-to-kill package. Frankly, I don’t think using this in tandem with Chandra is a bad plan. For a wide red deck that uses token producers like Akroan
Crusader and Hordeling Outburst, the Dragons mode gives you inevitability for a deck that often twiddles its thumbs against a block-heavy or high-removal
strategy. Also unlike Palace Siege, you can have an immediate impact on the board thanks to the Dragons mode. It really is a toss-up which mode you choose,
even if you’ve built your deck to advantage of one more than the other.
Citadel Siege is perhaps one of the more difficult of the cycle to evaluate, as either mode can either be awesome or terrible depending on the boardstate.
I do love that it provides two white devotion, something that’s been kind of missing for this cost slot for the dubious mono-white devotion brews I’ve been
throwing around for months. The rest though, is a bit of a question mark.
Citadel Siege definitely works best on a nearly empty board, say zero to two creatures on your opponent’s side, and one or two on your side. The fact that
both the Khans and Dragons mode are immediately accessible is great, and either mode is useful for attack or defense and can drastically change combat math
right away.
For those looking to take the Johnny route, there is also an interesting interaction with the mythic rare from Journey to Nyx, Sage of Hours. With three
copies of Citadel Siege dialed to Khans mode, you can take infinite turns in Standard; sure, three copies is tough to do, but those Clever Impersonators
have been taking up space in your binder since September. Why not use ’em there?
Ah, sorry, can’t get distracted with tasty brews. We’re focusing on the Siege cycle, then on to…
Nope, I gotta keep…going…
Eghhhhhhh…
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (26)
Spells (21)
Sideboard
Lots of ways to find the combo, then go infinite with Elspeth and thousands of infinite/infinite flying Soldiers!
Whew, I feel better now.
When this one got spoiled, I had to sit down. Four mana extra a turn with no tapped creatures or lands to worry about, and two of which you get back the
same turn is a thrilling place to find oneself. Naturally, ramping into good stuff the turn after you play it is ideal, but even just having some play
mana is nice. A free Sylvan Caryatid is great to help you ramp up the next turn, or even leveraging it as tempo with removal spells like Savage Punch might
give an aggressive green deck a big boost without needing to waste slots on mana-producing creatures. The Khans mode is what everyone’s talking about, but
the Dragons mode is intriguing to say the least. While Hornet Queen stands head and shoulders above the rest as the best way to give Green a one-sided
Wrath, smacking a creature with one of the set’s multicolored dragons or good old Stormbreath Dragon might occasionally be the right choice.
I’ve already got two playsets ordered and you should too.
Monastery Siege is exactly where I want to be in terms of blue tempo or control. To me, both sides are really exciting; the Khans mode, which
offers one-sided card draw, not only lets you look at twice as many cards a turn, it builds your delve and/or any graveyard-friendly strategy for you. Dig Through Time becomes more manageable, and those awkward early turns become smoother, as you don’t need to Dissolve their three-drop.
I’d always play this as soon as I could. Speaking of which, this only costs three mana, putting it right on curve with some of blue’s powerful spells and
helping you cast it lategame without letting your shields down. This is a card that will slowly but surely win you the game. The Dragons mode is
really awesome too. Thoughtseize feels kind of crappy for three mana, huh? Stoke the Flames for six? What, Stubborn Denial just became a lot
closer to a hard counter when protecting yourself or a permanent you control? What a deal! Especially in an aggressive strategy, this buys you precious
turns for your fragile beaters to dodge Hero’s Downfall. It even protects itself, meaning that an Erase costs an embarrassing three mana if they
ever want to get around it. In decks with Monastery Siege, I want it early and I want a lot of ’em; they stack well and both modes ensure their owners have
strong draws and long lives.
Even on those that seem to slouch compared to the others, all of them have great potential in the new format, and a couple of them are desirable
in great quantities.
The first deck I’m building for Fate Reforged Standard is a revision of the list I shared last week. I had made some changes “Pre-Forged,” thanks to
additional playtesting, and here’s how it looks with some tweaks.
Creatures (20)
Lands (20)
Spells (20)
Sideboard
There’s a few spicy ones in here! Jeskai Sage was covered last week (I’d shoehorned it in to replace the dreadful Jeskai Elder), but there are a couple
critical additions. I’d previously played the Swan Song and Searing Blood combo, but after being disappointed with both options main and sideboard, I
decided to scrap them for an old spell and a new one. Stubborn Denial was, much of the time, sufficient to stuff a noncreature spell before it got crazy.
Thanks to the newly-added Mogis’s Warhound, the ferocious requirement is occasionally fulfilled, and Titan’s Strength can do the job in a pinch. Instead of
Searing Blood, I’m playing the ever-exciting Collateral Damage, the closest we’ve come to a new Lightning Bolt variant in years. While Lightning Strike
seems like the more reliable option, the one-mana reduction really matters in this lean deck. Between useless unbestowed Nyxborn Rollickers and
extra Akroan Crusader tokens, the creature requirement means nearly nothing, and the efficiency wins that challenge every time. And hey, I can sack the
Jeskai Sage for a card on-demand. In the sideboard, I really want to try Arcbond, a card that in the right context could be bonkers. Blocking with
that Polukranos stings a little, huh? It may be too cute or even too expensive to cast, but I’ve got one proxied up nonetheless.
While we’re all excited about Standard, I’m excited about attending the Prerelease this time; my Khans of Tarkir Limited game is literally nonexistent, as
I haven’t been able to make it to a single draft since the set’s release. However, with a pretty clean slate coming into Fate Reforged, I feel like it’s
easier to analyze the potential of the new set in a Sealed environment. Which clan do you think has what it takes to dominate the Prerelease?
Much in the way that the Sieges were all good but varied in overall quality given a specific context, I think the clans can be judged that way too. Which
clan am I playing on Saturday?
5. Jeskai
Well, it’s probably not them. I love drafting red, white, and blue, but rarely together, and with prowess being an occasionally relevant combat trick and
rarely permanent, I’m inclined to think that Jeskai’s creatures will be too small and conditional to consistently make a dent in the opponent. Its biggest
natural non-rares for this clan are the six-mana dragons that everyone gets, so I’m concerned it won’t be able to do battle if you have an empty or anemic
hand.
4. Sultai
Sultai’s strength comes from the graveyard, but many of its creatures tend to be fairly small or, to be large and relevant, are delve-intensive. A
particularly grindy match could leave a Sultai player asking him or herself how many cards he or she has left in the library, which can get particularly
scary the longer the game drags on.
3. Mardu
Mardu has a lot going for it: good removal, token development, and a fairly easy ability to trigger. Like Jeskai though, its creatures tend to be small and
evasion is at a bit of a premium. Cards like Orc Sureshot and the various dash creatures will make combat difficult for your opponent, but I’m concerned
that the high-power, low-toughness aspect of many of Mardu’s aggressive stable will often trade down without much impact.
2. Temur
I love Gruul in Limited; high-pressure creatures, removal, and overpowering combat tricks make it a tempo player’s dream. Adding in blue to handle problems
on the stack, as well as with providing evasion and draw, give Temur a solid run at the lead spot for me on Saturday. Even though it’s sitting in second, I
might pick it anyway, even if there are plenty of others to go around. I especially love bruisers like Temur Sabretooth to help give you longevity; I’ve
already ordered one for my cube.
1. Abzan
This clan, while having some of the more boring mechanics in my opinion, is well-rounded, sturdy, and inevitable. The +1/+1 counter theme makes every
creature a threat, and the array of solid combat tricks can make it hard for your opponent to effectively attack back. Evasive threats like Abzan
Skycaptain, which even helps you if it dies, and Battlefront Krushok provide ample threats for any Sealed pool heavy in Abzan. All of the rares support
this plan, meaning you’ll have a strong deck no matter how you build. Selesnya, Orzhov, and Golgari have always been strong color combinations for Sealed,
so here’s your chance to play all three.
What’s your choice for the Prerelease? Which Siege is your favorite? Don’t worry; each clan and Siege enchantment will get lots of brews to keep them
fresh!