Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s the only time I really get to see most of my immediate family and one of the few days I get to
really sit back and look at the year behind me. It’s the seventh inning stretch for me, and I love that I get to spend it with people that have given me
the confidence to do what I love.
This Thanksgiving weekend is a bit different, however, as I find myself in a triple IQ grind. Going to Atlanta was a long shot for me, and I wasn’t really
looking forward to the fourteen-hour drive there, so I decided to stay local. After my disappointing 29th place finish in the Standard Open with Monsters,
I had to keep working if I wanted to do better.
One of the big things I noticed about the Richmond Open was how much lower to the ground things were getting. Decks are getting faster, midrange strategies
are more proactive, and variance is getting lower. Consistency is the key right now, and if you’re going to go against that grain, you better have a good
reason. This was why I cut blue from my Monsters deck for now. You want to emphasize consistency and keep up with everyone else.
And no, I don’t mean the “surprisingly consistent” that no one’s ever heard of. We all know that player…
During the week, I’ve been contemplating more and more about the state of Monsters in Standard in general. I didn’t think the archetype was bad, in fact, I
thought it was excellent, but every week, I felt like I was about 80 to 85 percent there with each decklist. I was approaching the desired build I wanted
for each tournament, but I was constantly falling apart toward the end of each event. Physically, I’ve come a very long way to ensuring that I don’t feel
like crap at the start of round eight. Mentally, I haven’t been checking out nearly as much. I’m convinced that I need to build my decks better than I have
been, and like anyone else, play at an even higher level.
As I was building yet another Monsters deck. I was looking to be even more explosive. I’m talking more explosive than Torque from Borderlands shouting
expletives at you. More explosive than each Expendables movie combined.
The problem was that it was hard to get more explosive than what your mana accelerants will allow you to be. Elvish Mystic is the best mana accelerant in
Monsters-style decks, and anything after that is still good, but not as good.
Then I found this little gem:
Generator Servant acts more as a ritual than a mana accelerant, but the return is higher than what most other decks are trying to get out of their own set
up spells. Exploiting the haste needs to be worth it, and since you’re going to want to use the mana as efficiently as possible, you have to do two very
specific things with it; create one large creature, or create two smaller creatures. You don’t want to ever waste the mana for it, so being smart with your
deckbuilding is very key here.
The first thing I wanted to do is start low. Instead of going big with a bunch of Sarkhans, dragons, and the like, I wanted to flatten my downforce. Boon
Satyr, Heir of the Wilds, Fanatic of Xenagos, and Goblin Rabblemaster all benefit greatly from Generator Servant, and lining them up properly can mean some
serious damage very quickly. My problem with building the deck was just that, lining things up. Not being able to produce colored mana forced me into, yet
again, a high number of Mana Confluences, something I was trying to get away from. I could justify doing it with Fated Conflagration, but I couldn’t
justify Generator Servant.
I could go for a Big Red shell, keeping my mana smooth, maintaining the explosive properties of Generator Servant, and still play a reasonable midrange
game:
Creatures (16)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (24)
Spells (15)
Powering out a threat much earlier than an opponent is ready for it while still having a strong midrange game, either after said threat is deployed or when
that option isn’t available, sounds like a really strong base to start from. There’s a good chance that once the Generator Servant jig is up it’ll be the
focus for game 2, but having Prophetic Flamespeaker in those matchups may be the equalizer, especially if the Servant goes uncontested again. Sometimes,
you’ll have a hasty Flamespeaker that will also help you curve out. Since we aren’t really trying to hit super hard with it, it’s primarily a Divination
every turn, which is super strong against decks like blue based control, big Mardu decks, and even some Abzan decks if you feel so inclined. The great
thing about Flamespeaker is its defensive qualities as well. It’s a nightmare for token decks, a big nuisance against Mono-Red Aggro, and in more of a
proactive fashion, a way to keep up against Heroic when digging for removal. The card has good applications here, and is a very important sideboard card
when looking to grind. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this practice carry over to other decks as well.
Despite feeling that this was the better Generator Servant deck, I can’t help but feel like I’m not maximizing it here. What happens if I’m stuck using the
mana on Hordeling Outburst or a Chandra? Does that warrant cutting those cards? I don’t think so, but I wasn’t going to really get that figured out in a
reasonable amount of time.
Scrapped…for now.
My next idea involved a much different looking type of Monsters-esque deck, one that you definitely haven’t seen before:
Sultai Aggro: by Anthony Lowry
Creatures (32)
- 3 Polukranos, World Eater
- 4 Boon Satyr
- 2 Reaper of the Wilds
- 3 Herald of Torment
- 4 Crystalline Nautilus
- 4 Heir of the Wilds
- 4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
- 4 Rakshasa Deathdealer
- 4 Bloodsoaked Champion
Lands (23)
Spells (5)
What the heck is going on here? No Satyr Wayfinders? Only 2 Whips? Crystalline Nautilus!?
Now, let’s talk about a few things here, because this one had a lot of thought behind it.
During coverage of SCG Atlanta, Patrick Sullivan mentioned that the ceiling for Sidisi is really high, stating that you have to build your deck around her
to get the highest payoff.
That got me thinking: What if?
What if you don’t actually have to do that? What if that claim simply isn’t true? I think that we’ve been so used to getting the most out of Sidisi and
Whip of Erebos themselves that we didn’t think about the rest of the deck as a whole. This makes sense, since that core is so absurdly busted. What if we
just build a solid, more well-rounded deck though? We get to drop the set up chaff, like Satyr Wayfinder, Sylvan Caryatid, and Courser of Kruphix, in
exchange for Raksasha Deathdealer, Heir of the Wilds, and Boon Satyr. We go even lower with Bloodsoaked Champion, which conveniently synergizes with
Sidisi, and we add even more ferocious and other synergies with Herald of Torment bestowing and Reaper of the Wilds scrying.
What if Crystalline Nautilus is actually nuts in this deck?
Think about it. It triggers ferocious, is a lightning rod for removal because of the mere fact that it dies to all of it (which is only a really big deal
in the case of Lightning Strike anyway), and plays nice with Reaper? Sign me up and let’s go! It’s also a solid way of roadblocking aggro decks if they
don’t have removal. Yes, it doesn’t synergize too well with our other bestow creatures, but that’s just a one way street. We can bestow Nautilus onto any
of our creatures for a huge push in damage, which is something that Sultai decks can lack from time to time. Herald of Torment is our form of reach and a
great way to end the game on the spot. As we move up the curve, we resemble more of a Monsters deck with Polukranos as the go-to, and Sidisi as the wide
option instead of the linchpin that she usually is. Finally, we have the aforementioned Reaper of the Wilds, a way to stave off opposing Siege Rhinos, get
value off of sweepers, and make value attacks. Deathtouch ensures that you’re always at least trading even, and hexproof has its obvious benefits. The
manabase needs work, but I want to have the most ways of hitting untapped green and black by turn 2, and blue by turn 3. I’ll be tweaking more as I work on
it.
SCG Richmond may have been my last Open for this year, but I’m still looking for points and will be going to IQs for the majority of December. Both of
these decks are every promising, and I can’t wait to give them both a spin. Maybe you’ll give it a try in Portland!