The current Standard metagame is stocked with a multitude of options for your battling pleasure. Whether you’re a control fanatic, a ramp-aholic, a burn-slinger, or you’re in love with an Elf, there’s a plethora of decks at your disposal. Today we’re going to go over a few decks that you can choose between for the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Charlotte coming up this weekend, as well as updated lists for all.
Since this Standard format is so diverse, I can’t really advocate playing any strategy over another, but mostly that you just play whatever deck fits your style best, or what deck you have the most experience with. In larger tournaments like these, your best bet is to play something you’ve tested, and you’re good with, as opposed to trying to brew up some rogue strategy. You’re going to face a lot of different decks, and you have to bring something that can feasibly handle all of them.
Standard is currently filled with broken interactions, and you just have to figure out which one you like best. It probably isn’t correct to play a “fair” deck at the moment unless you just have the perfect read on the field. Primeval Titan is great, but folds to Tunnel Ignus and Mark of Mutiny. Pyromancer Ascension is decent, but just isn’t strong or consistent enough without Time Warp and Ponder. Aggro decks lose to Pyroclasm unless built and piloted correctly. Control decks lose to Summoning Trap and Primeval Titan unless they have Memoricide.
Build your decks correctly, and give yourself the best chance to take down the title! Now, onto the show:
For those of you who love to cast red spells, you can read my last few articles on the subject found
here
and
here.
I’ll begin by giving you my current list, along with minor details so you don’t have to dig through the past few weeks’ worth of articles.
Creatures (21)
- 4 Goblin Guide
- 4 Plated Geopede
- 4 Kargan Dragonlord
- 3 Ember Hauler
- 4 Molten-Tail Masticore
- 2 Spikeshot Elder
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (26)
Spells (9)
Sideboard
If you expect to face ramp all day, choose this deck. It’s got a lot of solid game against most of the field, but don’t expect to be able to beat any version of U/W Control. As for card selection, for the first few weeks I played the deck, I’d always comment that I needed a few more creatures, and Ember Hauler fits just perfectly. Ember Hauler has proven strong, acting as an early attacker that can double as a spot removal spell against more aggressive decks, and that flexibility is exactly what this deck wants. As for playing twenty-six lands, I’d recommend not messing around with the mana too much seeing as the deck is incredibly mana hungry.
I cut some of the Spikeshot Elders from the deck mostly due to the fact that he’s mediocre in multiples. I’d recommend playing more if you expect to battle against Elf decks all day, but he’s fine against everything except Ramp. While you only have two Teetering Peaks to pump him, his ability is usually strong enough on its own.
Since most control decks are pushing farther away from U/W and more towards U/B and U/R, you should be much better positioned than in the past few weeks. U/B and U/R are so much worse against you, since they lack Wall of Omens, Condemn, Celestial Purge, and Kor Firewalker. Baneslayer Angel is just icing on the cake, but all of those cards in unison prove just too much for Mono-Red to handle most of the time.
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I also wrote about Ramp a few weeks ago, which you can find
here.
Ramp is one of the best strategies you can be playing right now, specifically because of the existence of Primeval Titan. He threatens to end the game quickly with both is 6/6 trampling body, as well as his ramp effect. Valakut decks abuse him the most, since you’re pretty much dead should you ever get to attack with him, but Mono-Green Eldrazi Ramp is still a very strong contender. David Vo, a friend of mine, piloted my Eldrazi Ramp list to a Top 4 finish at the Nashville Open, losing only to the eventual winner throughout the tournament.
Overgrown Battlement is a newer addition to Valakut, which I think is incredibly strong, and much better than the often terrible Oracle of Mul Daya. Here are the lists of both decks I would play tomorrow:
Creatures (11)
Lands (27)
Spells (22)
Sideboard
Creatures (17)
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 4 Joraga Treespeaker
- 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
- 4 Overgrown Battlement
- 2 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- 4 Primeval Titan
- 1 Wurmcoil Engine
Lands (27)
Spells (16)
Sideboard
Both of these strategies put a beating on blue-based control decks, but be sure to vary up your threats if your opponent is playing black, because they’re sure to have Memoricide. Valakut Ramp is probably better at combating Red than Mono-Green Eldrazi, but neither is an insane dog to it. Once you sideboard into a slower deck that gains a lot of life, you should be fine.
A few random notes for Eldrazi: the Mystifying Maze in the board is for aggressive decks, and the second Eye of Ugin is for any deck playing Tectonic Edge.
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While people have argued as of late on which variant of control is best, I’m fairly confident that U/B Control is your best option for combating such a diverse field. Doom Blade is pretty awesome in this format, killing nearly everything that matters, and is the main reason for playing black as a secondary color. Additionally, black gives you access to the fabled “Lost Titan”: Abyssal Persecutor. This guy is b-a-n-a-n-a-s, and you’re probably grossly underestimating him. In tandem with Trinket Mage and Brittle Effigy, you’re effectively adding 3-4 additional removal spells to your deck that can deal with him. On top of that, he provides a huge body to play defense seeing as so many quality removal spells rotated out of Standard. Without Maelstrom Pulse, Path to Exile, or Terminate, decks will have a lot of trouble pushing him out of the way.
Here would be my current U/B Control list:
Creatures (7)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (26)
Spells (21)
- 4 Mana Leak
- 4 Doom Blade
- 2 Into the Roil
- 2 Spell Pierce
- 2 Everflowing Chalice
- 1 Deprive
- 2 Brittle Effigy
- 4 Preordain
Sideboard
While you’re a bit soft to Ramp decks playing Summoning Trap, Memoricide helps shore up this shortcoming. Primeval Titan is their best threat against you, and eliminating this nuisance is exactly what you want to be doing on the fourth turn (or third with Everflowing Chalice). Memoricide is the card that most blue decks needed to beat Ramp, which is another major contributing factor for the advocating of black.
Most aggressive decks can’t handle your spot removal coupled with Abyssal Persecutor, since he’s so difficult to remove. On top of this, he’s an insane clock that can force your opponent into some risky plays in order to protect themselves.
Frost Titan is still the go-to guy for control at the moment, helping to stall both Ramp and aggro alike, but he’s going to have to share the spotlight for just a while since Persecutor gives you a way to combat aggro decks early on.
While there are a lot of options for control, playing black will give you the most game against the decks that give you the most trouble. While you’re a little softer to aggro than U/W Control, having access to Memoricide is incredibly important. This deck gives you a lot of room to outplay your opponent, which is nice if you’re a control player at heart.
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Elf Aggro seems to always show up in Nashville, taking down the StarCityGames.com Standard Open for the second year in a row. While the similarities are uncanny, there are a lot of new weapons to work with. The older version didn’t have access to more than one playable Elf at the one-drop slot (Noble Hierarch was just not as good).
On top of having Joraga Treespeaker and Arbor Elf, you have the best new addition in a very long time: Ezuri, Renegade Leader. Ezuri is a double blade, acting as a way to protect your squad while also threatening to kill your opponent for a very small investment. This deck can produce a very large amount of mana in a short period of time, making Ezuri go ultimate before most decks even begin to set up. Ramp is actually too slow against you, which is a huge plus. Even if they cast their six-drop, you’ll often just stick an Eldrazi Monument or use Ezuri to Overrun them, stealing the game out of nowhere. Without Jund and Blightning holding you back, Nissa Revane is as good as ever.
Here is the list of Elves I would play tomorrow:
Creatures (29)
- 4 Llanowar Elves
- 4 Elvish Archdruid
- 3 Nissa's Chosen
- 4 Arbor Elf
- 1 Joraga Warcaller
- 2 Joraga Treespeaker
- 3 Vengevine
- 4 Fauna Shaman
- 1 Sylvan Ranger
- 3 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (23)
Spells (5)
Sideboard
While Elves is traditionally weak to mass removal, Ezuri gives you access to something you didn’t have before: a cheap and effective way to protect your team from Day of Judgment and Pyroclasm. Eldrazi Monument is still insane at both protecting your team and killing your opponent, but Vengevine and friends make it much easier to keep it around.
Genesis Wave is a new addition that I wasn’t so sure about, but the first time you sink your entire mana pool into it, put 5+ permanents in play, you’ll become giddy. Genesis Wave, on top of being a great way to dig for Eldrazi Monument, can give you something to put your excess mana into if you become flooded. One thing this deck does great is generate mana, so having a sink that gains you a significant advantage is awesome. Luckily, every card in the deck besides Genesis Wave is a permanent, so you’ll gain maximum value from them.
While there are only three Vengevines in the maindeck, don’t undervalue him. He’s great at helping combat mass removal, which should be your soft spot, but he isn’t an Elf which is pretty important. However, I can’t really see an aggressive green deck playing without Vengevine, so he makes the cut. He also makes Fauna Shaman and Eldrazi Monument that much better, not that they needed much help being ridiculous.
This is probably still a Dark Horse deck, even though it was the last StarCityGames.com Standard Open winner, as I’ve seen very few people playing it on Magic Online (for whatever reason). I’m actually sold that this will be a very popular deck come Saturday, so you really need to know how to beat it if you plan on having a chance in Charlotte.
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Whatever deck you decide on, make sure you know it inside and out. Having complex interactions can be difficult for weaker players to play around, so knowing exactly how every card in your deck interacts with every other card can give you a significant advantage.
Comfort in the archetype you’re playing can help win most games just because you’re more prepared than your opponent. These tournaments are very big and full of inexperienced players, so make sure you give yourself the best possible shot at winning. Losing to your own unfamiliarity with your deck is not something you can afford in a nine or ten round Swiss tournament.
With Standard shaping up to be fun and amazingly diverse, expect the turnout at this tournament to be rather large. Charlotte is a great location that many players from up and down the coast have access to. I’m not certain I’ll be able to make the ten-hour journey, but I’m sure I’d have a blast, and you will too. Thanks for reading.
Todd
strong sad on MOL