Here we are… the eve of the biggest SCG Tour event this year!
Not only is the Season One Invitational taking place, where we’ll have the
culmination of many players’ season and hard work-including myself–but
there’s also everything else happening at SCG CON! While I’ll have my
sights focused on the event itself, I’ll be wandering around in between
rounds for all the happenings that are, well, happening! The countless
artists, cosplayers, crazy formats, and more! This is going to be a weekend
I won’t soon forget.
While everyone should be sure to catch the festivities throughout the
weekend and enjoy the lovely city of Roanoke, there are many of you like me
who have their eyes on the prize and it’s all about the formats we have in
front of us. And boy, what a mess of red I’m seeing!
While I could go on and on about Goblin Chainwhirler and how it might be as
bad or worse than Rogue Refiner was for the format, I’m not. Standard is in
a sort of flux right now where there will likely be a massive overreaction
to all the R/B decks that the Pro Tour last weekend showcased, where people
will either play the decks that did well or take a swing at beating them.
Either way, you’ve got to be ready for a format filled with Goblin
Chainwhirler, Rekindling Phoenix, and Scrapheap Scrounger or you’ll soon
find yourself scrounging for a bunch of cards on the Modern Banned list to
enjoy the No Banned List Modern event on Saturday.
One thing said by a very wise Magic player over the weekend about R/B Aggro
deck is that, “the deck has no bad matchups,” and I’d have to agree after
giving the format some due consideration. My advice for Standard is short
and sweet – join them or really, really try and beat them!
Creatures (28)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Servant of the Conduit
- 2 Rhonas the Indomitable
- 4 Resilient Khenra
- 2 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
- 4 Thrashing Brontodon
- 4 Steel Leaf Champion
- 4 Territorial Allosaurus
Lands (22)
- 18 Forest
- 4 Hashep Oasis
Spells (10)
Now this is a deck that can rumble! Rumble here being a synonym for “fight”
which was intended to be punny…
But on a more serious note, this deck has it all and packs a punch few
decks can keep pace with. While this take on Mono-Green Aggro is sporting
four copies of Llanowar Elves, a card that is indeed vulnerable to Goblin
Chainwhirler, those are the only cards that die to that card straight up.
That can be a bummer, but hopefully by then the damage has been done and
you’re far enough ahead from the acceleration to just be beating red mages
with giant monsters!
One thing to talk about is the inclusion of Territorial Allosaurus here
over a card like Ripjaw Raptor, which is very good at disincentivizing
people to even cast their Goblin Chainwhirlers. While that might be true,
keep in mind that we’re playing a mono-green deck and our options for
removal are slim. The fight ability on Territorial Allosaurus comes up a
ton since we have so many sources of mana in the deck to begin with, and
being able to take down a Glorybringer or finish off a Rekindled Phoenix
Egg token left behind can be game-breaking. Not to mention this is still a
5/5 creature for four mana which isn’t anything to scoff at, as we’ve just
been spoiled for so long that we forget. The fifth power on Territorial
Allosaurus plays a huge role of cost reducing the big main event: Ghalta,
Primal Hunger. That’s too much for most to handle.
Speaking of giving Mono-Green functional removal, Skysovereign, Consul
Flagship does a very nice job clearing off freshly cast Chainwhirlers as
well as functioning as a Glorybringer of your own when it comes to gunning
down creatures if left unchecked. I’m not sure how many Abrades we’ll see
floating around with the ability to exile creatures being at a high
priority for the format’s threats right now, but that can only mean good
news for those with a Blossoming Defense handy!
Another direction you could take and not feel completely ashamed of
yourself for not just playing one of the flavors of red in Standard is “the
slow Approach.”
Creatures (2)
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (27)
Spells (28)
While this might be an overreaction and the first time I think I’ve ever
recommended that casting Approach of the Second Sun be a good idea, it
might just be the perfect storm. With people fighting with all these silly
creatures against each other, what better way to just ignore what the
opponent is doing than tap seven mana twice and win the game?
While there are a ton of flaws to this line, all you need it to be right
for is one tournament. Not even a full tournament to be completely honest,
just eight rounds! Think of how many times your opponent is going to draw a
hand with some creatures and removal spells and ask yourself if that’s
going to happen say six out of the eight rounds you sit down from an
opponent this weekend? Is it really that hard to imagine that you won’t get
some free wins with a deck like this just because you’re playing an
anti-metagame deck? For the first time in Standard, I’m considering casting
Approach of the Second Sun. While the odds are extremely against that idea
coming to fruition, the fact that I’m considering it should say something.
Beyond that, the Standard format is littered with decks that have yet to be
explored. Just because people played the hell out of some red cards at the
Pro Tour doesn’t mean that there isn’t still room to explore! Just make
sure the creatures in your deck have more than one toughness or that your
deck doesn’t care if they die or not…like this!
Creatures (32)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Verdurous Gearhulk
- 2 Glint-Nest Crane
- 3 Minister of Inquiries
- 4 Walking Ballista
- 1 Vizier of Many Faces
- 4 Champion of Wits
- 4 Merfolk Branchwalker
- 4 Jadelight Ranger
- 2 Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar
Lands (22)
Spells (6)
Oh wow, have we got some spice here!
When looking over the Dominaria card list, I can assure you that
not many players looked at Multani, Yavimaya’s Avatar and thought to
themselves, “I think this would be a great God-Pharaoh’s Gift target,” but
here we are! Not only does the deck do a lot of self-milling, looting, and
exploring, but God-Pharaoh’s Gift gives this big trampling threat a nice
base stat line of 4/4 to pile all those +1/+1s on top of! Even if you
aren’t getting this card back from God-Pharaoh’s Gift, just hard casting
this as a threat after you’ve done some work on your library can give you
an insane threat that will have people without the ability to exile it
having a fit.
Another nice thing this deck does is really punish people for tapping out
on turn three for a Goblin Chainwhirler if there’s a Gate to the Afterlife
already on the battlefield. Imagine you played a Llanowar Elves turn one
(lucky you!) and when they had to take the turn off playing a Canyon
Slough, you were able to resolve a Gate to the Afterlife! Follow that up
with Champion of Wits and who the heck cares if they killed your creatures
because you kinda wanted them to anyway, you masochistic savage!
The big addition you get from green here is the explore creatures in
Merfolk Branchwalker and Jadelight Ranger. Back when Ixalan first
debuted I pioneered the Gate to the Afterlife version of this deck in an
Esper-colored shell using Seeker’s Squire as my explorer of choice. What I
would have done to be able to not only play eight copies of that card in my
deck, but get one that triggers twice?
Glint-Nest Crane is insane in this deck. With fourteen targets total,
you’re significantly more likely to consistently hit an artifact than with
any other previous version of the deck that I’ve seen prior, and it was
good enough then just putting four non-Gate to the Afterlife cards to the
bottom of your deck. I wouldn’t be surprised if something like this caught
many people off guard since Scavenger Grounds has all but fallen off the
face of the earth as it has a natural predator to this deck in The Scarab
God.
I can’t account for everything in this format. Plain and simple. There’s a
lot going on and if the Pro Tour taught us anything, it’s that it’s good to
be proactive. While Mountains aren’t really my style, I couldn’t fault
anyone for registering a lot of them this weekend… at least in Standard.
You register more than two basic Mountains in a deck in Modern and we’re
gonna have words!
Speaking of Modern, I’ve given up. I want to play the cards I like and not
have to worry about what’s right and what’s not, but there’s no denying it:
If you’re not playing Humans, you’re probably wrong. It’s the most
aggressive, disruptive, and resilient deck in the format with game against
practically anyone and it’s certainly a deck that punishes people who
stumble: the perfect recipe for a deck you should register. Other
acceptable options in the format include and certainly are limited to the
following:
- Jeskai Control
- Affinity
- Hollow One
- Jund
- Mardu Pyromancer
And if your name is Todd Stevens you’re allowed to register G/W Company. But only if your name is Todd Stevens.
Eldrazi Tron was a fun deck that could help balance the format against
Jeskai Control, who had a hell of a time in that match up, but with how
devastating the Humans matchup is and how popular that deck is, I’d steer
clear if you want to do well.
Goryo’s As Foretold is cute and all and certainly can do some nasty things
in the early turns of the game, but with its inconsistency and
vulnerability to a wide variety of strategies, it makes me think it’s best
suited for FNM.
G/R Land Destruction? Just no. I get that it won SCG Dallas earlier this
year, but we had just gotten Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf
back, and people were very confused at the time. This deck is a “No” on a
“Please Stop” scale.
Mono-Green Tron has vanished. I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing the cards
Meddling Mage and Kitesail Freebooter have something to do with that? I
would guess that’s the case, but then again, I’d imagine it could be poised
for a comeback if you’re splasing red for early sweepers like Pyroclasm and
Kozilek’s Return. It gets around Meddling Mage on the kick back and Auriok
Champion since, surprise, it’s not red.
As for the rest of the format, this list of what you probably shouldn’t
play could go on for eons, but what the hell do I know, right? I do “hate”
Modern, of course. For those of you who haven’t gotten the joke yet, let me
set the story straight:
In my opinion – which everyone is entitled to – Modern is Magic’s best format.
Also, in my opinion, Modern is Magic’s worst competitive
format.
I think it’s great for FNM, giving players the ability to metagame amongst
each other week in and week out and enjoy playing against their friends and
occasionally travel to a larger event to play, but to have it under the
competitive eye for so long with so much at stake means that other eyes who
have to keep the format healthy will wander over to the direction of the
competitive scene and sometimes intervene.
I hate when cards get banned.
It’s no fun. Suddenly cards lose value and decks you once may have loved
are no longer legal. I don’t think that we’d have several cards on the
banned list today if Modern was kept a more casual format and no, I don’t
think that the same issues of the format those cards created would exist
because that isn’t the spirit of the format. I’m glad Modern exists, but oh
how I wish it was never a Pro Tour format ever. Maybe one day we’ll get the
Modern format we deserve where people can register Wistful Selkie.
Maybe one day, Brennan…
By the time this goes live, I’ll be in route to Roanoke, Virginia where
I’ll be joining some of my BCW Teammates for any last-minute prep we have
to do and then getting ready to set sail on this wild weekend StarCityGames
has in store for everyone planning to attend the first SCG CON. Cheer me
on!