Last weekend at #SCGCOL I learned a lot of things about the new Standard format with Eldritch Moon. But the only thing that really stood out was that Bant Company seemed to be everywhere, but also in a couple of different forms. That’s how it always is in a new(ish) format. People try out different things, and eventually everyone settles on trying the winning deck first.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Reflector Mage
- 4 Sylvan Advocate
- 2 Archangel Avacyn
- 3 Tireless Tracker
- 3 Duskwatch Recruiter
- 3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
- 4 Spell Queller
- 4 Selfless Spirit
Lands (25)
Spells (8)
I played against Bant Company nine times in fifteen rounds. While some of those were Humans variations with Thalia’s Lieutenant, as well as Kevin Jones’s Spirit version, most were similar to what Devin Koepke brought to the table. While I was preparing for the tournament, I knew that Collected Company would be everywhere, and I was convinced by Tom Ross that he had a solid matchup against the archetype when playing his W/R Humans deck. Here is what both of us decided to play.
Creatures (31)
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
- 4 Dragon Hunter
- 3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 3 Anointer of Champions
- 3 Expedition Envoy
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 2 Hanweir Militia Captain
- 4 Town Gossipmonger
Lands (18)
Spells (11)
Long story short, I went 6-3 against all forms of Bant Company, but I felt weakest against any version that played Spell Queller and Thalia, Heretic Cathar. Both of those additions to the deck felt phenomenal and really stood out compared to how good I thought they would be.
And I thought Spell Queller was going to be great.
Well, it’s even better than that. It’s Modern-playable. It’s Legacy-playable. It is one of the best cards to see print in years and will likely redefine how we play with and against U/W decks in older formats. It just might take some time figuring out the best lists. I’m not going to go super-deep into Modern or Legacy right now, but that’s how confident I am that Spell Queller is busted.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar, on the other hand, was just regular great. I kept trying to force it into low-to-the-ground aggressive decks, and it just didn’t really fit. It made you play more lands and increased your curve. Normal W/X Humans decks want to be as low to the ground as possible. Your best draws include playing three creatures on the first two turns and then slamming an Always Watching on the third. Thalia, Heretic Cathar on the third turn doesn’t help your small creatures bust through bigger ones. On the play, it will keep their three-drop tapped and unable to block, but it is not exactly exciting on the draw.
In Bant Company decks, Thalia, Heretic Cathar is a significantly different animal. Games tend to go a little longer, and every little edge you can gain will count. Slowing down their land for a turn or tapping a potential blocker is a big deal when your entire strategy relies on battlefield position. And since the deck is already built in such a way that it can support three-drop creatures, adding her in isn’t exactly a big deal. The first strike ability is relevant. Three power is relevant. Only costing one white mana to cast is relevant. And the list goes on.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar also pairs nicely with Reflector Mage, giving you another turn of leaving the opponent without a blocker. In nearly every mirror match I watched this past weekend, Thalia, Heretic Cathar was a major player. Forcing your opponent to effectively miss their land drop on the third turn due to the high number of nonbasic lands was devastating. I can’t see many versions of the deck forgoing Thalia, Heretic Cathar in the future. She’s just too good to pass up.
While Devin Koepke did not play the card, another juicy addition to the deck that really impressed me this past weekend was Tamiyo, Field Researcher. Sure, you can argue that she isn’t all that good when you’re behind, or if your opponent is able to keep your creatures in check. You can also argue the same thing for most planeswalkers. Have you ever seen a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar singlehandedly fend off four or five creatures? Of course not.
But what Tamiyo, Field Researcher brings to the squad is a different form of pressure from the opponent. Extra cards every single turn can be hell on a control player, but she is also backbreaking in a battlefield stall. The “freeze” ability will help push through damage on tough battlefields and pairs nicely with Thalia, Heretic Cathar to boot. If you’re constantly keeping all of your opponent’s creatures tapped, how are they ever supposed to defend against your onslaught of creatures?
I don’t know if Tamiyo, Field Researcher will end up being a maindeck card, but I do think it is good enough for consideration. I would also play it well before I would play Ojutai’s Command, even though they’re trying to do completely different things. Four mana is a major investment, and I want a lot more bang for my buck than potentially shutting down an Archangel Avacyn. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve never really been a fan of Ojutai’s Command in the deck. And now that you have four copies of Selfless Spirit, Archangel Avacyn shouldn’t be all that scary.
Breaking Through Bant Company
I didn’t see many people trying to beat Bant Company this past weekend. Most people just decided to play it themselves, in some form or another. It flooded the Day 2 metagame and had a solid conversion percentage into the Top 8. There is no question that it is the current best deck in Standard, but that could all change come next week.
When you move into a new Standard format, the first tournament in that format sets the tone. This past weekend, Bant Company set the tone once again, mirroring what happened at the beginning of the season when Shadows over Innistrad was released. Not a lot changed, and there were plenty of cards printed that could make the deck even better. It is no surprise that Bant Company showed up in the numbers it did, nor was it a fluke that it ended up winning the tournament. After all, people want to try new things, and those new decks aren’t always going to line up well against established, powerful archetypes.
So now we must remember what was great against Bant Company in the first place.
We saw a powerful performance from Brad Nelson at the last Pro Tour as he cruised his way into the Top 8 with G/R Ramp Goggles. Having access to Kozilek’s Return and the ability to deploy it against from the graveyard gave him a significant advantage against decks that tried to flood the battlefield with creatures. Exiling a land or another permanent was just an added benefit.
But now we have quite a few options for triggering Kozilek’s Return from the graveyard, and at a reduced rate. All creatures with emerge should be taken into consideration, and especially the ones we’ve already talked about at length. Do you know how tough it will be to beat a Distended Mindbender that’s also sweeping all your opponent’s creatures away? What about Lashweed Lurker putting your Gideon, Ally of Zendikar back on top of your deck while doing the same?
We didn’t get to see a lot of people trying out these new, powerful creatures from Eldritch Moon, but I think that will change once the #PTEMN has come and gone. Building new decks is difficult, but tuning decks from existing lists makes it much easier. I don’t think next week at #SCGBALT will change all that much about Standard before the Pro Tour. We’ll keep seeing Bant Company, B/W Control, G/W Tokens, W/R Humans, and every other archetype that existed before the release of Eldritch Moon.
But you can change that. I can change that. We can try new stuff and see what works and what doesn’t. We can playtest. We can find the combination of cards that allows us to break through the monotony and boredom caused by an oppressive instant. We don’t need to wait for some bigshot from a superteam to do it for us. We’re just lazy, but we don’t have to be.
Collected Company is a messed-up card, and it’s easy to play with. You find your two best creatures in the top six cards of your deck, and you put them onto the battlefield. Reflector Mage to bounce their creature, Sylvan Advocate when you have six lands, Spell Queller to stop a game-ending spell, or even Selfless Spirit to flip your Archangel Avacyn. I get the appeal of Collected Company, and if you want to put up the best result with the least amount of effort in testing, then Collected Company is probably right for you.
But you can do better. I can do better. Whether or not we actually decide to put in the work is all that stands between us and a trophy.
Last week I posted three different decks that three different friends had been working on. I know when to listen, and I also know when you should listen to me. Right here, right now, I’m not on top of the Standard format. I got locked in a Goggle-sized box, and I’m having a lot of trouble getting out. Even now, my fingers are itching to build the G/R Goggles Ramp deck to play at #SCGBALT. And there is a small part of me that knows that I might.
A Look at W/R Humans
I opted to play Tom’s version of W/R Humans last weekend, and I can tell you it is certainly good. Both of us ended up crashing our way into Top 16, with Tom losing his win-and-in for Top 8. But what really got me thinking about W/R Humans in the first place was how well it has done in Tom’s hands over the last few months. I haven’t watched him play the deck much, or even read most of his articles about the deck, but just playing a single tournament has me thinking of a few different ways to improve.
First and foremost, I want to be better against Bant Company. It will be the deck you face most, so you need to make sure you’re prepared to beat it as best you can. If you continue playing the stock lists, you’ll fall behind. Bant Company is customizable, with three different colors of creatures to choose from. Even in the Top 8 of #SCGCOL, there were different flavors of the archetype. Don’t be surprised if your opponent throws you for a loop with Bounding Krasis.
Understanding how each version of the deck operates isn’t enough. You need to figure out which version your opponent is playing, and quickly. In the first week of a new format, that is almost impossible, but now we have the groundwork at our feet. We know that if they’re playing Selfless Spirit, they could be playing Kevin Jones’s Spirit version of Bant Company, but more likely they’re playing Devin Koepke’s version (or something similar). In both matchups, you can expect to face Archangel Avacyn.
If you see Bounding Krasis, your opponent is likely playing more Werewolf cards. Having access to eight flash creatures for three mana that have significantly different impacts on how you play your turn is tough, and nearly impossible to play around if they have both. If you attack first, you can potentially have your creature eaten by either, but if you play your Always Watching first you might not be able to attack at all (thanks to Spell Queller).
The joke is that the battlefield is going to fill up pretty quickly. It is your job to initiate trades early so that you can eventually find a way to punch through later. If you can’t find ways to do that, you’ll need Always Watching, Gryff’s Boon, or even Anointer of Champions to help you gain some traction.
And then you have to worry about Dromoka’s Command.
Do you see why playing against Bant Company is so annoying? But we have to fight through that feeling for the next few months. And we have to find ways to give ourselves an edge. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly keen on playing a mirror match every other round at the next event I play.
But for Humans, building a slightly tweaked version to attack Bant Company means building it in such a way that we can break through some of those battlefield stalls. Since there is a good chance we shouldn’t be attacking on the third turn without some help, we have to find cheap ways that allow us to do that. My suggestions?
A fourth copy of both Gryff’s Boon and Anointer of Champions. This is a must. These are cheap ways to help you pressure your opponent, even if they’re starting to pull ahead on the battlefield. Three have been in the deck for a while now, but I think it’s time to play four of each next week. Once Bant Company drops in popularity a bit (if it ever does), we can always revert.
Lower your curve. We need to make Spell Queller and Reflector Mage a little worse against us. In actuality, that’s one of the best parts of the deck already, but we can do more. I’d start by cutting Hanweir Militia Captain completely. I was not impressed.
Build a better sideboard. The plan of Reckless Bushwhacker and Needle Spires is solid, but I felt like a had a lot of dead weight in my current sideboard plan. Silkwrap and Stasis Snare are similar enough to Declaration in Stone, and I don’t know exactly how many of those effects I actually want. Having more enchantments for Dromoka’s Command to hit is not exactly ideal. Selfless Spirit might end up being a necessary evil to combat decks trying to beat Bant Company with Kozilek’s Return. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar did not feel great, but I suspect that was just due to a small sample size. But since I’m trying new things…
And finally, here’s the version of W/R Humans I’d play next weekend:
Creatures (30)
- 4 Knight of the White Orchid
- 4 Dragon Hunter
- 3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
- 4 Anointer of Champions
- 3 Expedition Envoy
- 4 Thraben Inspector
- 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
- 4 Town Gossipmonger
Lands (18)
Spells (12)
Sideboard
I don’t expect many of you will want to play this deck. After all, it is an acquired taste. But it has a surprising amount of play to it, and many of your decisions matter. You are also gifted a lot of free wins because of the speed and consistency with which you attack your opponent. And that’s nice.
If you’re not coming to #SCGBALT, make sure you tune into SCGLive for all the action. It’s gonna be a fun weekend, and hopefully someone decides to show up with something unique. And hopefully that person is me. Also, hopefully that person is on camera every single round.