Control’s showing at the World Championship this year was inspiring. As predicted, the Standard metagame hasn’t changed much since rotation. The field is cluttered with Temur Energy variants and the villainous Ramunap Red aggressive deck. One of those matchups makes control the obvious choice for domination, while the other one strikes fear in the hearts of anyone casting Glimmer of Genius.
The World Championship doesn’t represent the general metagame as well as a Pro Tour, but luckily, we can bank on an SCG event on release weekend. The SCG Tour took a stop in Dallas, where we saw the decks of old Standard continue to truck on after rotation. The Sultai Energy decks are only a few cards off from older B/G Energy decks, U/W Approach had a great showing, and the two best decks (Ramunap Red and Temur) were all over the top finishes.
Nick Miller made this wonderful, facetious tweet after the Standard decklists of the World Championship were released. He made fun of the “pros,” thanking them for solving the metagame once again. It was so sharp that my editor and friend couldn’t detect the sarcasm. The reason why that tweet was amazing is because the pros haven’t helped us out a whole lot in recent times. Decks like Temur Energy, B/G Energy, Marvel, and Zombies were already made mainstream by a combination of SCG events and MTGO results.
The Miller response wasn’t a jab at the professional community, but a witty retort to the shade the “elite” toss at players outside of their exclusive club. We all know the competition is much more rigorous at a Pro Tour than an Open, but the deckbuilding talent gap has been significantly closed. Team MGG has produced quality Standard deck lists regularly and it should be recognized worldwide.
Creatures (6)
Lands (26)
Spells (28)
Looking at the Sultai Energy that the Gurus claimed Dallas with, the Temur Energy from old Standard the best of the best resigned to, and U/B Control’s replacement of U/W Approach, this Grixis Control list seems to be well-positioned. Sultai Energy is the best possible matchup we can hope for, Temur Energy is a close second, and I’m always happy about a control mirror!
Sultai Energy’s threats do not align well against decks without creatures. Hostage Taker may be one of the most powerful new cards, but it doesn’t shine in this matchup. There has been a great deal of discussion on how many Hostage Takers should be run and I believe people will (and should) continue to play four. Sure, the card is weak against control, but it is amazing against nearly everything else. There are a few scenarios where an unsuspecting U/B or Grixis Control player gets blindsided when they confidently tap out for The Scarab God, but often it’ll have to be run out as a vanilla four-mana 2/3. This issue only pops up because of the amount being used in the maindeck. Sultai and Four-Color Energy players want to run four copies, as it decides the matchup often.
U/B Control is weaker to Hostage Taker than Grixis Control is. U/B Control doesn’t have the two-mana removal spells that make Grixis more resilient against creatures with three toughness or less. Relying on expensive removal spells when the opponent plays four Blossoming Defenses is too dangerous. Harnessed Lightning and Abrade give red control mages a fighting chance against low-curve decks with a green counterspell for removal. The U/B Control lists showcased at the World Championship this year mirror the winner of GP Turin’s. The void created by the Grasp of Darkness rotation isn’t the only reason why this deck will not dominate the top tables for this Standard.
Flaying Tendrils bailed out black-based control from the onslaught of Ramunap Red decks. Without that, the next-best U/B sweeper is four mana. Unlike Hour of Devastation, Yahenni’s Expertise doesn’t deal with Gods or planeswalkers. Paying a high premium on mana cost should help remove most threats from a Standard battlefield, but sadly that isn’t the case here.
The Scarab God, as I have ranted on for a couple months, is the most powerful card in Standard today. That means we must find a way to use it in a control shell and Grixis still seems to be the best fit. The splash color for U/B has been easy to hit. I tossed in a Vraska’s Contempt as a perfect one-of to hit planeswalkers and large threats. Even when drawn early on with a couple of blue- or red-producing lands, the amount of digging makes getting those black sources an inevitability. The Scarab God is also a single-black-source splash, but is much more explosive when multiple black sources are on the battlefield.
If the mana makes the third color an easy inclusion, I suspect people will start to take full advantage of splashing in control decks. Esper Control could easily be the next-best control deck, utilizing the powerful black late-game removal spells and having access to Approach of the Second Sun. At this point in the metagame, The Scarab God and Torrential Gearhulk easily get the job done for me against the best decks of the format. There must be a reason why U/W Approach had a strong showing in Dallas, and it boils down to the aggressive king of the format.
The card that all control players speculated on has successfully proven its power. Search for Azcanta has been as good as expected, smoothing out draws and making it impossible for an opponent to win an even game when flipped. I had one in my original Grixis Control list a few weeks ago, but recently replaced the fourth Opt for a second copy. Search for Azcanta has a similar effect to Opt and effectively smooths out draws starting in the early-game.
The issue with the enchantment, Opt, and any card focusing on card quality without impacting the battlefield is its liability status against aggressive decks. On the draw, I sideboard down to one against decks that have creatures on Turn 2, and I sideboard them out completely against Ramunap Red. There simply isn’t enough time to try to smooth out draws against decks that cast multiple creatures a turn. Turn 2 is fully occupied by removal and countermagic, so Search for Azcanta should hit the bench.
The reason for the third one in the sideboard is the control mirror. That matchup can be completely defined by which player resolves their legendary enchantment first. I hate formats where a Turn 2 Luminarch Ascension automatically claims victory, so this is the one negative side effect of this powerful enchantment.
Ramunap Red is the only obstacle in the way for control to move into Tier 1 of Standard. U/W Approach has a natural advantage of lifegain in both the maindeck and sideboard. I wrote extensively above on the weaknesses of U/W Approach or any control deck attempting to take the new format on without red because of the lack of cheap removal spells. Settle the Wreckage has given U/W Approach decks some hope against decks that swarm the battlefield.
U/B Control doesn’t have the tools to handle an explosive start from Ramunap Red like Grixis and U/W Approach does. Red-based control decks have an arsenal of cheap removal that can be used to kill multiple creatures a turn, whereas U/W Approach can eradicate an entire army moving into the red zone with a single spell. This is where the splash for U/W Approach comes in.
Creatures (1)
Lands (25)
Spells (34)
In an exchange with Brian Braun-Duin, I wanted to give kudos to the mage who has bested me at every meeting. Reid, in very Reid fashion, dug into my soul with one of the oldest shard grudges of the game. Esper has had a rough few years and sledding has not gotten any easier in today’s Standard. This Esper Approach list has been fun to pilot, but I still believe the removal gap that exists in the two-drop slot is detrimental to its success. Jim Davis had a strong run with Aether Meltdown, but that card doesn’t bring home the gold against a variety of popular threats.
In a world of Winding Constrictor, Hostage Taker, mana producers, Gods, reusable abilities on creatures, etc., Aether Meltdown falls well short of the playable bar. This pushes me to a black splash, summoning the power of Fatal Push and The Scarab God, one of the best removal spells with the best win condition, in case Approach of the Second Sun doesn’t get there in time.
The Scarab God in this deck has been a very useful alternative win condition in the “early”-game. I put “early” in quotes, because Turn 5 is about as early as it gets for control to start turning the corner to victory. The Scarab God steals games in this deck, taking advantage of countered or pushed creatures that fell prior to its arrival. The second copy in the sideboard is useful for all matchups outside of Ramunap Red.
The mana in this deck is still a work in progress and it boils down to the amount of enters-the-battlefield-tapped lands the deck can handle. I’ve never been very excited about Evolving Wilds, but it does help Drowned Catacomb and Glacial Fortress enter untapped and trigger revolt for Fatal Push.
I have put far more games in with Grixis Control than Esper, but I can easily see jumping ship if Ramunap Red picks up steam. Authority of the Consuls and Regal Caracal are much better options than Whirler Virtuoso and Multiform Wonder. Those sideboard cards, as well as Approach of the Second Sun itself, help move the needle closer to a 50/50 matchup. A simple Abrade can derail Grixis Control, where it is much more ineffective against Esper Approach.
Let’s look at a quick comparison after discussing the two control decks:
|
Matchup |
Grixis Control |
Esper Approach |
|
Ramunap Red |
Very Weak |
Weak |
|
Sultai Energy |
Very Strong |
Strong |
|
Temur Energy Variants |
Very Strong |
Even |
|
U/B Control |
Strong |
Strong |
|
Token Variants |
Even |
Strong |
|
Consistency Rating |
Very Strong |
Strong |
This is what I’ve determined after some playtesting with Esper Approach and a ton of matches with Grixis Control. It seems that Temur is the king of the hill now, which leads me to double down on Grixis Control. Grixis was strong against it prior to Ixalan and nothing has changed from the Temur side to affect that rating. I played against it six times at GP Washington D.C. and destroyed it every time. This is on top of the Magic Online success that I, as well as Ari Lax and a few others, have had against the Longtusk Cub pilots of the world.
There is no doubt in my mind that Temur Energy will be the most-played deck for quite some time. Outside of the World Championship success, people have the deck already built from before and very few new cards were added. The Temur players know that Grixis Control and other fringe decks are in low supply as an active threat to their tournament success. These are the reasons why I am very confident to take Grixis Control for another spin at U.S. Nationals this weekend.
Those of you who have followed me for over a decade know that I can be very results-oriented. If I face Ramunap Red repeatedly online, at U.S. Nationals this weekend, and in any future SCG event, I’ll polish up the Glacial Fortresses and make Esper Control the deck moving forward. I am hoping that Temur continues to put good numbers up against Ramunap Red and ultimately shifts it lower on the metagame ladder for all our sakes. Only time will tell, my friends.